The Union I&B minister has taken action against 18 OTT platforms for broadcasting content deemed obscene and vulgar. Alongside these platforms,19 websites, 10 apps (7 on Google Play Store, 3 on Apple App Store), and 57 associated social media handles have been blocked nationwide.
The PIB release, stated that the Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, has consistently stressed the responsibility of platforms to refrain from propagating obscenity, vulgarity, and abuse under the guise of 'creative expression.' On March 12, 2024, Shri Thakur announced the takedown of 18 OTT platforms publishing such content. The release highlighted that this decision was made under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The Ministry said a significant portion of the content hosted on these platforms was found to be obscene, vulgar, and portrayed women in a demeaning manner. The content of these platforms violated several laws including the IT Act, Indian Penal Code, and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
“It depicted nudity and sexual acts in various inappropriate contexts, such as relationships between teachers and students, incestuous family relationships, etc. The content included sexual innuendos and, in some instances, prolonged segments of pornographic and sexually explicit scenes devoid of any thematic or societal relevance,” said the Ministry.
The I&B ministry stated that these “OTT platforms heavily relied on social media platforms to promote trailers, specific scenes, and external links in order to attract audiences to their websites and apps."
Among the blocked OTT platforms are 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.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur stated that these measures were taken after repeated warnings, with one OTT app crossing over 1 crore downloads and two others exceeding 50 lakh downloads on Google Play Store. While seven of the blocked apps were hosted on Google Play Store, three were on Apple App Store, said the Ministry. The combined followership of their social media accounts exceeded 32 lakh users. These accounts were spread across Facebook (12), Instagram (17), X (16), and YouTube (12).
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