Pakistani court dismisses plea seeking ban on popular video game PUBG

LAHORE: A Pakistani court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking a ban on popular online video game Players’ Unknown Battle Ground (PUBG), local media reported. 
A citizen, Tanveer Sarwar, had moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) to ban the game weeks after a teenager confessed to killing four members of his family in a rage after bingeing for days playing online. 
Police said Ali Zain had shot dead his mother, two sisters and a brother in Lahore on January 18, and claimed under questioning that the game had driven him to violence. 
Sarwar contended in his plea that PUBG was creating intolerance in the society, especially in youngsters, who were addicted to it, Geo News channel reported. 
“The LHC disposed of the plea over the petitioner’s discontinuation of the case’s pursuit,” the report read. 
Last month, police in the central Pakistani province of Punjab also recommended a ban on PUBG, in relation to the Lahore family massacre. 
“To stop acts of violence caused by this game, it is necessary to ban PUBG,” the police said. “Youngsters addicted to completing the game’s tasks eventually commit acts of violence.” 
Pakistan banned PUBG in July 2020 after the country’s telecom regulator said it had received numerous complaints that the game “affects physical and mental health” of children and teenagers. 
“The game is highly addictive, destroying the youth, a wastage of time and has a negative impact on physical and psychological health,” the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said at the time. 
However, the ban was lifted the same month on the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).