News Update

Government Cracks Down on 18 OTT Platforms for Obscene Content

• ByStartupStory     |    March 14, 2024

The Indian government initiated a significant crackdown on 18 ‘over-the-top’ (OTT) streaming platforms, prohibiting them from publishing “obscene, vulgar, and, in some instances, pornographic content.” According to an official press release from the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B), 19 websites, 10 apps, and 57 associated social media accounts have been disabled for public access within India. Seven of the banned applications were accessible on the Google Play Store, while three were on the Apple App Store.

“The recent decision was taken under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 in consultation with other Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, and domain experts specialising in media and entertainment, women’s rights, and child rights,” the release stated.

The banned OTT platforms 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, and Chikooflix. The government deemed the content hosted on these platforms as “obscene, vulgar, and portrayed women in a demeaning manner,” with sexual innuendos and explicit scenes lacking thematic or societal relevance.

Broadcasting such content violates 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, as per the release. Notably, one of the banned OTT platforms had around 10 million downloads, while two others had nearly 5 million downloads each on the Google Play Store.

“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 3 million users,” the release highlighted.

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