New Delhi: The Union government on Thursday, April 6, notified norms to regulate the online gaming sector wherein online games or sites that involve wagering [or betting] will be banned completely, including advertising. As per the rules, self-regulatory organisations (SROs) will certify online games.
The Economic Times reported that SROs will comprise industry representatives, educationists, and other experts such as child experts, psychology experts, etc. In the beginning, the government will notify three SROs and if needed, it will add more later.
“Permissible online games are those games, real money or otherwise, that do not involve wagering, user harm in its content and do not create any addictive consequences for children,” minister of state for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar told news agency PTI.
The SRO can declare online real money game as a permissible if it is satisfied that “the online real money game does not involve wagering on any outcome”, the newspaper reported.
In addition, the government has also made KYC (know your customer) verification for online gaming essential, News18 reported.
The online gaming rules have been included as an amendment in the IT Rules of 2021.
According to the amendments, online intermediaries such as YouTube and Facebook will have to remove any information relating to the business of the Union government that is identified as “fake or false or misleading” by fact-checking units of the government. The particular agencies, authorised to trigger content removal, will be notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
Access Now, a non-profit organisation that supports digital rights, had written to MeitY advising against these proposals that expand the scope of the IT Rules to the detriment of free speech and expression.
The Internet Freedom Foundation had also raised concerns over the new amendments, saying these amendments “directly and negatively impact online freedom of speech and the right to receive information”.
A report in The Wire had said that “bans do not tackle the root causes of alleged dangers like addiction or suicide”.
An opinion piece in the Hindu BusinessLine had also pointed out that governments and people are getting confused between gaming with gambling. “There are genuine concerns that users can get addicted to gaming and huge money is being spent. However, addiction is not a function of what you do but a personality disorder. This has nothing to do with gaming but only with the person. Also, the money spent on gaming can be controlled using technology,” it said.
It also raised questions if banning will solve the problem for the government.