SC issues notice on social media, OTT platforms

Blitz Bureau

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a plea seeking directions to the Government to take immediate and decisive action to regulate explicit content on social media and OTT platforms.

A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih issued a notice to the Centre, observing that the petition raised an issue of “important concern” with regard to the display of objectionable, obscene and indecent contents on social media and OTT platforms.

Apart from the Union Government, notices were issued to Netflix, Amazon, Ullu, ALTT, MUBI, Google, X Corp (formerly Twitter), Apple and Meta.

The Justice Gavai-led Bench suggested that the Centre take more legislative actions to check the unabated circulation of obscene content on social media and OTT platforms. In response, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that some regulations are already in place and more are under contemplation. Issuing notice, the apex court decided to tag the plea with similar pending petitions.

The public interest litigation (PIL) said the unabated circulation of obscene, sexually deviant/perverted, pedophilic, bestiality content, 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.

“If left unchecked, this unregulated spread of obscene material could have severe consequences on societal values, mental health and public safety,” said the plea. The petition pointed out that the petitioners had sent several representations/complaints before the authorities, but have not yielded any effective result.

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