SC issues notice to Centre, OTT, social media platforms on PIL against obscene content

New Delhi [India], April 28 : The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre, OTT and social media platforms on a PIL seeking direction to take appropriate steps to prohibit the streaming of obscene content.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih observed that the plea raised an issue of "important concern" and sought response from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Alt Balaji, Ullu, ALTT, X (formerly Twitter), Meta Inc, Google, Mubi, Apple and others on the PIL seeking regulation of obscene content on OTT platforms and social media.
Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain appearing for the petition, highlighted the issue of content circulating on OTT platforms and social media without any form of regulation or checks.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said obscene content was present even in some regular programmes. "Some programmes are so perverted that even two respectable men cannot sit together and watch them", he said.
Mehta said there should not be censorship, but some degree of regulation was necessary. He further said, "There is some regulation in place, some is in contemplation."
The bench in its order stated, "This petition raises an important concern with regard to the display of various objectionable, obscene and indecent contents on OTT platforms and social media. Solicitor General fairly states that the contents go to the extent of perversity. He submits that certain more regulations are in contemplation. Issue notice."
The bench also said that issue raised in the petition is a policy matter it is in policy domain of the Central government.
Petitioners Uday Mahurkar, Sanjeev Newar, Sudeshna Bhattacharjya Mukherjee, Shatabdi Pande and Svati Goyal approached the apex court.
The PIL filed against Netflix, Amazon, Alt Balaji and others assailing the distribution of obscene material through the Over The Top (OTT) streaming platforms.
It sought direction of constitution of an authority/committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge and consisting of eminent experts in the field to oversee and certify for the publishing, streaming of movies/shows/web series on OTT Platforms and social media's on the lines of the CBFC until the appropriate legislature enacts a law for regulating such streaming.
The petition sought direction to the Centre "to take appropriate steps to prohibit the streaming of sexually explicit, pornographic, paedophilic, incestuous and other content of similar nature including nudity, X-rated scenes, etc. on OTT Platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Ullu, ALTT, etc. and social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter), Meta (formerly Facebook), Instagram, YouTube, etc."
If left unchecked, this unregulated spread of obscene material could have severe consequences on societal values, mental health and public safety, said the PIL.
The petitioners said they are compelled to raise this matter due to the rampant availability of pornographic, obscene, and sexually deviant content across digital platforms.
"The unchecked circulation of such material, including child pornography and softcore adult content, has contributed to a rising trend of crimes against women and children while negatively shaping the psychological development of young minds," it said.
OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Ullu, ALTT (formerly, ALT Balaji), etc. continue to stream highly explicit content, some of which violates child rights and safety due to such sexually deviant material, the petition stated.
The petition further sought direction to the Centre to stop access to the social media- X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc, as well as OTT platforms until they formulate a mechanism to ensure that all pornographic content is made inaccessible, especially to children and minors in India.
Lay down guidelines by constituting a National Content Control Authority to prohibit sexually perverted content on OTT Platforms and various social media platforms, it also asked.