The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) has taken action in coordination with various intermediaries, on Tuesday to block 18 OTT platforms publishing obscene, vulgar, and, in some instances, pornographic content. 19 websites, 10 apps, 57 social media handles of the OTT platforms have been blocked nationwide.
One of the OTT apps amassed more than 1 crore downloads, while two others had over 50 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store. The social media accounts of the concerned OTT platforms had a cumulative followership of over 32 lakh users, said the ministry.
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, Prime Play are the platforms.
A substantial amount of content on these platforms was discovered to be offensive, indecent, and objectifying towards women. It featured nudity, sexual acts, and inappropriate themes like relationships between teachers and students, incestuous family ties, among others. The content included sexual innuendos and extended scenes of pornography without any societal or thematic relevance.
This content was found to potentially violate various legal statutes including 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 of Information and Broadcasting actively engages with OTT platforms and their self-regulatory bodies, as per the IT Rules, 2021, through various awareness initiatives such as meetings, webinars, and workshops.