ONLINE
GAMING – SOCIAL ISSUE
News: India is an important market for AR games, says maker of Pokemon Go
What's
in the news?
● With plans to incorporate the real world in its technology, Niantic Inc. has come up with Lightship, a platform for developers to create their own reality games. The company recently released updates for its popular AR game Pokemon Go. These included a global map refresh and the addition of more Pokemons.
Online
gaming in India:
●
With over 13 crore users across 200
platforms, India is the world's largest
market for fantasy sports.
●
The government noted that the number of
people participating in online rummy is increasing.
●
To distinguish the games, India divides
them into two broad categories. The game is classified as either a Game of
Chance or a Game of Skill.
1.
Game
of chance (Gambling): Games of chance are any games that are
played at random. These games are based on chance. These games can be played
without prior knowledge or understanding. For instance, dice games, number
selection, and so on. Such games are illegal in India.
2. Game of skill (Gaming): Games of skill are any games that are played based on a person's prior knowledge or experience with the game. A person will need skills such as analytical decision-making, logical thinking, capability, and so on. Some games may also necessitate some preliminary training in order to win. The majority of Indian states consider such games to be legal.
Evolving
market:
●
The revenue of the Indian mobile gaming
industry is expected to exceed $1.5 billion in 2022, and is estimated to reach $5 billion in 2025.
●
The industry in the country grew at a CAGR
of 38% between 2017-2020, as opposed to 8% in China and 10% in the US.
● India’s percentage of new paying users (NPUs) in gaming has been the fastest growing in the world for two consecutive years, at 40% in 2020 and reaching 50% in 2021.
Advantages
of Online Gaming:
1.
Entertainment:
●
There are several available and new games
that create a variety for a player to choose from. In countries where there is
the availability of broadband internet, online gaming has become a staple kind
of entertainment.
2.
Earning:
●
It is also possible to gain cash via
online gaming as a result of winning games. This can earn the players a lot of
money as long as one has the skills and talent for online gaming.
3.
Avoid life threatening behavior:
●
Online gaming is advantageous as it can
occupy the mind and avoid people, especially youths from getting involved in
life threatening behavior such as drug taking and joining youth gangs.
4.
Gaming knowledge:
●
At least online gaming is more
constructive.
●
Online gaming can also help expand and
improve gaming knowledge and also experience.
5.
Competition behaviour:
●
Online gaming also encourages competition.
●
One player competes against others playing
the same game so as to win more money.
6.
Sharper people:
● Online gaming is that it makes a player mentally active and sharper too.
Concerns
of Online Gaming:
Stakeholders have highlighted a number of societal concerns that can arise from the proliferation of online games in the country.
1.
Addiction:
●
It may cause addiction and time meant for
other activities may be consumed in online gaming.
●
It is an absolute challenge for parents to
supervise and monitor their children and their activities in order to prevent
addiction.
2.
Harassment and abuse:
●
Online harassment may also occur
especially with children who get involved in online gaming.
●
Children playing games online may lead to
online abuse.
3.
Social isolation:
●
Social isolation due to over indulgence is
one of the consequences.
●
Increased
aggression, negative academic and occupational consequences.
● Lack of physical activities/hobbies.
4.
Access to unsafe content:
●
Access to unsafe content/ age
inappropriate content.
●
Parents need to see the intricacies with
which online gaming and pornography
is linked.
●
If kids play online, that is a
pornographer's heyday for marketing, grooming and hooking young consumers.
5.
Increasing suicide:
●
There have been a number of reported
incidents of people losing large sums of money on online games, leading to
suicides in various parts of the country.
●
Earlier, the World Health Organisation
(WHO) had announced a plan to include “gaming
disorder” as a mental health condition.
6.
No regulatory framework:
●
There is currently no regulatory framework
to govern various aspects of online gaming companies such as having a grievance
redressal mechanism, implementing player protection measures, protection of
data and intellectual property rights, and prohibiting misleading
advertisements.
7.
Threat to Data privacy:
●
Inadvertent sharing of personal
information can lead to cases of cheating, privacy violations, abuse, and
bullying.
8.
Betting and gambling:
● Online games based on the traditional ludo, arguably the most popular online game in India, have run into controversy, and allegations of betting and gambling.
Why
a central-level law?
●
Online gaming so far has been a state
subject, but state governments have said they find it extremely difficult to
enforce certain rules like geo-blocking
certain apps or websites within the territory of their state.
●
There is a concern that rules passed in
one state are not applicable in another, which has caused inconsistency in how
the online gaming industry is regulated in the country.
● State governments do not have enough blocking powers like the Centre to issue blocking orders for offshore betting sites.
Recommendations
of the taskforce:
1.
Central level law:
●
A central-level law for online gaming
should apply to real money and free games of skill, including e-sports, online
fantasy sports contests, and card games among others.
● Casual games with no real money element in the form of stakes may be kept outside the scope of such rules, unless they have a high number of users in India or permit the publication or transmission of information in the nature of any inappropriate content like violence, nudity, addictive content or misleading content.
2.
Regulatory body:
●
It has also recommended creating a
regulatory body for the online gaming industry, which will determine what
qualifies as a game of skill or chance, and accordingly certify different
gaming formats, seek compliance and enforcement.
3.
Dispute resolution mechanism:
●
A three-tier
dispute resolution mechanism, similar to that prescribed under the
Information Technology Rules, 2021 for online streaming services, consisting of
●
A grievance redressal system at the gaming
platform level.
●
Self-regulatory body of the industry and
●
An oversight committee led by the
government should be put in place for online gaming.
4.
Treated as legal entity:
●
Any online gaming platform - domestic or
foreign offering real money online games to Indian users will need to be a
legal entity incorporated under Indian law.
●
These platforms will also be treated as
‘reporting entities’ under the Prevention
of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and will be required to report suspicious
transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit-India.
5.
Ministries control:
●
The task force has suggested that MeitY may act as the nodal ministry to
regulate online gaming, except for the e-sports category on which the
Department of Sports can take the lead.
●
The scope of the regulation by MeitY
should only cover online gaming, that is, games of skill, and the issues of
online betting and gambling being games of chance in nature should be excluded
from its scope.
●
Certain other aspects of online gaming
such as advertisements, code of ethics relating to content classifications etc.
could be regulated by the Information
and Broadcasting Ministry.
●
The Consumer
Affairs Ministry can regulate the sector for unfair trade practices.
6.
Prohibition of apps:
● On the aspect of prohibiting games of chance, gambling websites or apps being played online, the proposed Digital India Act can include it in the list of prohibited user harms that will not be permitted.
WAY
FORWARD:
●
Build checks
and balances to prevent the youth from becoming pathological gamers.
●
Various high courts have nudged state governments to regulate the virtual
gaming landscape.
●
The Centre, in a recent advisory to
states, has laid out useful dos and don'ts to educate parents and teachers.
●
Incidentally, the Chinese have announced
rules to limit online video games for those under 18 to three hours a week. The
Chinese state media has called online gaming the "opium of the mind."
●
Role
of online gaming platforms: The online gaming platforms can play
a positive role by strengthening the KYC norms.
●
Implement
an age-rating mechanism, wherein minors are allowed to
proceed only with the consent of their parents - OTP verification on Aadhaar
could resolve this.
●
No
in-game purchases to be allowed without adult consent and
wherever possible, the in-game chat option should be disabled.
●
Gaming companies should proactively educate users about potential risks and
how to identify likely situations of cheating and abuse.
●
Anonymity
of participants should be removed and a robust grievance
handling mechanism needs to be built.
●
Encouraging various forms of self-regulation should also be
encouraged for the industry.