Fortnite and Discord Should Be Probed, Says NCPCR Requesting MeitY To Look Into the Recent Controversy

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to start an inquiry against Fortnite and Discord. The NCPCR wrote to MeitY on June 6, Tuesday due to the alleged involvement of these platforms in the religious conversion of a minor boy in Ghaziabad. Let’s check everything around this letter and the overall incident here.

NCPCR’s Letter to MeitY

NCPCR Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo wrote a letter to Alkesh Kumar Sharma, the Secretary at MeitY. In the letter, the chairperson wrote, “The Commission has come across a news article, wherein it has been informed that two men including a Caretaker of a Mosque in Ghaziabad and a man from Mumbai were involved in religious conversion of a minor boy through an online gaming platform, Fortnite.”

Kanoongo claimed that the boy was “lured into conversation through the said gaming platform, Fortnite.” Then, the boy was allegedly “brainwashed into religious conversion over another social platform, Discord”, as per Kanoongo’s letter.

The NCPCR has requested MeitY for an enquiry to be initiated against Fortnite and Discord. NCPCR is also hoping that an action-taken report gets submitted within 10 days. It has also called for an effective framework to ban minors from accessing prohibited websites and added that there should also be enforceable punishments for such cases.

According to news reports, the issue became known after Ghaziabad police arrested a man named Abdul Rehman alias Nanni on Sunday. Rehman is a resident of Ballia but currently living in Ghaziabad. Police arrested Rehman for allegedly inciting and motivating two minors (a Hindu and a Jain) to take part in Islamic religious activities.

A resident of the Kavinagar police station area filed the police complaint alleging the religious conversion of his minor son. Police officials said that Shahnawaj Maksud, a Maharashtra resident orchestrated the plan. Rehman was helping Maksud to pull off the plan.

IGN India has reached out to MeitY, Epic Games and Discord for comment. We will update the story when we receive a response from them.