The notorious social media game Blue Whale has been banned in Egypt by an Apex Islamic Authority for the reason that it urges teenagers to commit suicide and other such elements which goes against the Islamic teachings.

Dar al Iftaa is an institute which passes edicts over religious matters. The institute issued the ban on the game after Egyptian media reported several suicides that were as per the allegation related to the game, despite having no evidence for the claim.

One of the suicides reported was of a son of Hamdy Al-Fakharany, a former Egyptian member of parliament for the Muslim Brotherhood. This prompted the religious authority to issue the ban.

Khalid Al-Fakharany, aged 18, committed suicide after playing the game, said his sister on Facebook posts. Many of the suicides Jordan and Tunisia are also linked to the game.

The game, known as the Blue Whale Challenge surfaced in the news reports in 2016 and 2017 after several suicides were reported from United States, Brazil, India, Russia and Europe with links to it.

The game is comprised of a series of about 50 challenges handed out by an organizer over social media.

The tasks are assigned with the target to complete in 50 consecutive days. When the player uses it at first, it seems to be a normal one and as the level increases, it turns more violent as the days progress with the end being on the target to harm oneself among other things.

As a last challenge the user is asked to commit suicide.

In a response to the challenge gaining traction over the time, several countries raised questions about the game.

But the evidence for the claim is yet to be produced that can link the suicides to the Blue Whale Challenge and the UK Safer Internet Centre has called the game a “hoax”.

Youth Internet safety expert Anne Collier of The Net Safety Collaborative termed the game “a textbook example of how misinformation about online harm can itself be harmful”.

In India too several suicides of the year 2017 were originally linked to the game, but the authorities found no evidence of any suicide actually caused by the Blue Whale Challenge.

Multiple investigations by Russian media, the country where the game is said to have its origins have also found no definitive links between the game and suicides.

Time and again the experts have warned that if the game is put at the centre of attention, it may lead to letting actual mental health and suicide issues of being pushed to the background.

Both the countries, India and Russia, where the Blue Whale Challenge was linked to most of the suicide reports have generally high suicide rates among teenagers and young adults.

As per the research done by the World Health Organization (WHO), suicide is the second-largest cause of death for people between the ages of 10 and 24.

One of the researchers commented that the risk is a bit higher because people at this age have more problems with keeping their emotions under control and also finding themselves at margins of their communities which may significantly increase their risk of suicide.

You May Also Read: El-Sisi Wins Egyptian Presidential Election With Majority