A writ petition has been submitted in the Lahore High Court (LHC) Saturday to place a ban on the PUBG: Battlegrounds better known as PUBG—an online multiplayer battle game—arguing the video game incited violent incidents, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The petitioner made respondents the Federation of Pakistan through secretary law, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) through its chairman and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) through its chairman.
The writ petition made prime reference of the recent killing of four family members in Kahna Nau who were gunned down by 18-year-old ‘PUBG addict’ after allegedly playing PUBG. The addict gunned down his mother, sister and brother in their sleep.
The petitioner’s counsel, Nadeem Sarwar, pleaded that the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018 had declared gaming addiction as a mental health disorder as it 'increased depression and anxiety levels'.
He implored that in Pakistan, the video game was responsible for violent incidents due to its "adverse impact".
“In action upon the part of state functionaries to ban PUBG despite happening of horrible incidents of killing is violative of Article 9 (right to life), 37 and 38-D of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973, hence a ban need to be imposed upon this game at the earliest without further delay to protect the lives of the young generation,” the petitioner contended.
“Known outcomes of playing PUBG are a strain on the eyes, frazzle, migraine, obesity, poor sleep, violence and more. Psychological health issues are there too, such as withdrawal (irritability, poor sleep, anger) depression, insomnia and even substance abuse as a result of compulsive disorder,” the petition reads.