Govt blocks 18 OTT platforms for obscene and vulgar content

The ministry of information and broadcasting has barred 18 over-the-top (OTT) platforms on March 14 for publishing obscene, vulgar and in some instances pornographic content. In a circular, the ministry said that the 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.

These 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, Chikooflix and Prime Play. According to the ministry, the cumulative followership of these OTT platforms is more than 32 lakh users.

Meanwhile, in addition to these, the ministry has also blocked 19 websites and 10 apps (seven on Google Play Store, 3 on Apple App Store). Moreover, 57 social media accounts associated with these platforms have been disabled for public access in the country.

"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 included sexual innuendos and, in some instances, prolonged segments of pornographic and sexually explicit scenes devoid of any thematic or societal relevance. 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 ministry says in a statement.

"One of the OTT apps amassed more than 1 crore downloads, while two others had over 50 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store. Additionally, these OTT platforms extensively utilized social media to disseminate trailers, specific scenes, and external links aimed at attracting audiences to their websites and apps," it adds.

The development comes months after Anurag Thakur, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, in a meeting with industry stakeholders in July last year, said that OTT platforms should not propagate obscenity, vulgarity and abuse under the guise of 'creative expression'.

"OTT players have a responsibility of ensuring that their platform does not propagate vulgarity and abuse camouflaged as 'creative expression'. India is a diverse country; OTTs must also reflect the collective conscience of the country and provide a healthy viewing experience for people of all age groups," Thakur had earlier said on X (formerly known as Twitter). 

Over the past few years, online streaming platforms have been under heavy scrutiny by the government. In 2021, a new set of regulations brought the industry players under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.