Illegal foreign digital platforms were particularly active in the fast-growing online gaming segment, with gambling and betting apps often posing as online gaming apps.
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A survey undertaken in four major cities of Tamil Nadu found that 75% of the respondents did not know how to distinguish illegal online gaming platforms from legal ones.
Public Response Against Helplessness and Action for Redressal, (PRAHAR), a non-for-profit organisation which deals with cyber security, in association with the Madras Digital Cinema Academy, conducted the consumer survey among 5,000 online gamers in Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, and Coimbatore. The findings were revealed at a seminar held in Chennai on Thursday.
Abay Raj Mishra, president and national convener, PRAHAR, said illegal foreign digital platforms were particularly active in the fast-growing online gaming segment, with gambling and betting apps often posing as online gaming apps. Citizens are often unable to distinguish between legal and illegal gaming apps, he said.
The survey said the remaining 25% of the respondents, who claimed they knew how to identify legal gaming platforms, cited bogus means of identification. These included reliance on advertisements (49%), word-of-mouth from friends and family (19%), and terms, conditions and privacy policy (15%).
V. Jayaprakash, director, Madras Digital Cinema Academy, said: “Our survey revealed that the youth do not want government-imposed restrictions on online games but would prefer self-imposed restrictions or operators mandating limits before they play.”
A whopping 86% of respondents are against the State government attempting to impose fixed limits on online games. Out of these, 44% believe players should be allowed to voluntarily set their own time and money limits at the time of participating in an online game. Another 24% felt that the government should, at best, make it mandatory for the operators to ensure that players set their own voluntary limits on time and money before they can even begin to play.
According to the survey, 78% of respondents say they played online games at least once a week or more. Respondents who played daily stood at 35.7%, while those who played a few times a week stood at 26.2%.
Published – November 07, 2024 08:28 pm IST
