Government cracks down against OTT platforms for 'obscene' content

New Delhi: Eighteen OTT platforms, 19 websites, 10 Apps and 57 social media accounts publishing obscene, vulgar and in some instances pornographic content have been blocked, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said on Thursday.

The decision was taken under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 in consultation with other Ministries and domain experts specialising in media and entertainment, women's rights, and child rights.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur has emphasised the responsibility of the platforms to not propagate obscenity, vulgarity and abuse under the guise of 'creative expression', an official statement said.

"A significant portion of the content hosted on these platforms was found to be obscene, vulgar, and portrayed women in a demeaning manner. It depicted nudity and sexual acts in various inappropriate contexts, such as relationships between teachers and students, incestuous family relationships, etc," it said.

The content included sexual innuendos and, in some instances, prolonged segments of pornographic and sexually explicit scenes devoid of any thematic or societal relevance, it said. The content was determined to be prima facie in violation of Section 67 and 67A of the IT Act, Section 292 of the IPC, and Section 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.

The OTT platforms that were blocked include Dreams Films, Voovi, Yessma, Uncut Adda, Tri Flicks, X Prime, Neon X VIP, Besharams, Hunters, Rabbit, Xtramood, Nuefliks, MoodX, Mojflix, Hot Shots VIP, Fugi, Chikooflix and Prime Play.

One of the OTT apps amassed more than one crore downloads, while two others had over 50 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store. Additionally, these OTT platforms extensively utilised social media to disseminate trailers, specific scenes, and external links aimed at attracting audiences to their websites and apps. The social media accounts of the concerned OTT platforms had a cumulative followership of over 32 lakh users, the statement said.