Kenya bans ‘Blue Whale’ game after teen commits suicide

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenya on Tuesday banned an online game as a 16-year-old boy is said to have committed suicide after playing it, a state-run regulatory body said.

In a statement, the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) Chairperson, Ezekiel Mutua, confirmed that “a sixteen-year-old committed suicide last week in Kamukunji Nairobi under what preliminary police investigations believe to be the influence of the game.”

Mutua said that the KFCB has noted that the social media game -- Blue Whale -- which is gaining popularity among children in Kenya is being used to manipulate them to perform dangerous activities through a fifty-day series of traumatizing tasks.

“Over the past few weeks, the board has been receiving complaints from parents and various stakeholders in the education sector, expressing great concerns about the psychological and physical dangers the game is posing to children,” Mutua said.

He added that even after the ban the KFCB had asked all internet service providers to ensure the game is not accessible in Kenya.

Mutua said the board had also written to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google and all other social media platforms where the presence of the game has been reported, calling on them to disable it in Kenya.