It has been 3 months since PUBG Mobile was banned by the Indian Government as a part of its protective measures related to security concerns of the nation, but despite the ban and much-debated ethicacy of playing the PUBG Mobile KR version, the Indian gaming community has refused to give up on PUBG Mobile, extremely adored and admired game.
The servers for the official app of PUBG Mobile have been shut but players have been able to find a way or other to still play PUBG somehow on their devices. A great number of players have shifted to the Korean (KR) version of PUBG Mobile to continue playing it.
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This sparked a new debate about the morality of still playing the game that was banned for the purpose of national interest. A debate erupted on social media that went to the extent of comparing the users playing PUBG Mobile KR version with anti-national elements.
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This debate stretched to the extent of turning into a controversy which finally got resolved after an RTI regarding the matter was submitted by Prasoon Shekhar, a law student to seek answers to it. The RTI filed by him, addressed to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) asked for clarity on three major points: –
- Provide the provision of law that governs what happens if somebody disobeys the ban imposed on Chinese applications like PUBG Mobile.
- What is the maximum punishment and penalty that can be imposed on the defaulter, if at all?
- Provide the number of persons prosecuted (till the date of reply to RTI application) for violating the imposed ban and restrictions on Chinese applications.
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The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in its reply stated that there is no prescribed penalty or punishment in any provision against the individuals still using the banned app and violating the ban.
The Meity clarified that it does not ban any app but it has blocked certain apps under the provisions of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, especially according to the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking Access of Information by the Public) Rules, 2009.
The Meity has said that however there is no punishment or penalty included in the provisions referring to which the apps have been blocked but by still playing the banned entities like PUBG Mobile, the users are certainly violating a government order and must be self-conscious about their decision of still using these apps.
