NEW DELHI: Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said that three types of games will be prohibited in India amid several incidences of online gaming addiction and even a recent incident of religious conversion through games. They are: 1. Games that involve betting 2. Games can be harmful to the user 3. Games that involve a factor of addiction
The Minister said, the government has already created a draught of the new regulations. He listed the three game genres that will be prohibited. He omitted, however, to mention the standards that will be applied for classifying video games into any of the three groups. He asserted that the following gaming genres would be prohibited in India:
"We have set up a framework related online gaming for the first time, in which we will not let 3 sorts of games in the nation. The nation will outlaw games that entail gambling, can be dangerous to the player, or have an addictive component. The new announcement will currently have an impact on Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store, two of the leading application marketplaces.
"In the Meantile, in the next 90 days, as we wait for SROs, the government will make a decision on what is permissible or not permissible," he said. In addition, the MoS for Electronics and IT stated that the government would regulate any technology, including artificial intelligence, based on the potential harm to people.
The minister assuaged concerns that the development of AI will result in job losses by stating that such a danger would not materialise in the upcoming years, but that it might do so in 5-7 years.
"Our approach to AI legislation, or any regulation, is to govern it from the standpoint of user damage. Since 2014, we have been operating under a new paradigm in which we will defend digital nagriks. Platforms that harm digital nogriks are not acceptable to us. They will lessen user harm if they operate here, said Chandrasekhar.
