Saturday, May 04, 2024
In a recent development, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting of India, Anurag Thakur, disclosed that 18 OTT platforms have been prohibited from operation due to the dissemination of obscene and vulgar content, despite repeated warnings.
Alongside these platforms, 19 websites, 10 mobile applications (7 on Google Play Store, 3 on Apple App Store), and 57 social media handles associated with the OTT platforms have also been blocked nationwide.
Minister Thakur highlighted that one of the banned OTT apps had garnered more than 1 crore downloads, while two others had amassed over 50 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store. Despite their significant user base, these platforms failed to comply with regulations set forth by the Information Technology Act, Indian Penal Code, and Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
The banned 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.
A statement from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting emphasised the nature of the content hosted on these platforms, citing it as "obscene, vulgar, and portraying women in a demeaning manner."
The content often depicted nudity and sexual acts in inappropriate contexts, such as relationships between teachers and students, as well as incestuous family dynamics. Additionally, the content featured sexual innuendos and prolonged segments of pornographic and sexually explicit scenes, lacking any thematic or societal relevance.
The ministry further elucidated that these OTT platforms heavily utilized social media channels to disseminate trailers, specific scenes, and external links to attract audiences to their websites and apps.
