Govt blocks 10 apps, 19 websites, 57 social media handles

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) has collaborated with various intermediaries to take action against 18 OTT platforms that were publishing explicit, vulgar, and sometimes pornographic content. As a result, 19 websites, 10 apps (7 on Google Play Store, 3 on Apple App Store), and 57 social media accounts associated with these platforms have been disabled for public access in India.

Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, has consistently emphasized the responsibility of these platforms to refrain from promoting obscenity, vulgarity, and abuse in the name of ‘creative expression’. On 12th March, 2024, Shri Thakur announced the removal of 18 OTT platforms that were publishing explicit and vulgar content.

This recent decision was made in accordance with the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000, in consultation with other Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, as well as domain experts specializing in media and entertainment, women’s rights, and child rights.

Nature of Content

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 inappropriate contexts, such as relationships between teachers and students, incestuous family relationships, and more. The content included sexual innuendos and, in some instances, prolonged segments of pornographic and sexually explicit scenes that lacked 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.

Significant Viewership

One of the OTT apps had accumulated 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 share trailers, specific scenes, and external links in order to attract audiences to their websites and apps. The social media accounts associated with these platforms have also been disabled for public access in India.