New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, expressed serious concern over the broadcast of objectionable and obscene content on OTT and social media platforms and served notice on some of them and the Centre with the intent to frame some regulations to curb the trend.
The bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih found merit in a PIL moved in this matter and said: “We issue notice to respondents. Let Netflix etc., be also here, they also have social responsibility.” The court also noted that it was for the Executive and Legislature to introduce measures to regulate indecent content online.
Notices were issued to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Ullu, ALTT, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and others as well as the Centre. All respondents have been directed to submit detailed and reasoned replies.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, informed the court that some regulations were already in place and more were being contemplated. He remarked that some content was so perverse that “two respectable men can’t sit together and watch,” pointing out the need for stronger checks despite existing 18+ age warnings.
The petitioner Uday Mahurkar claimed there were pages or profiles on social media sites that were disseminating pornographic materials without any filter, and various OTT platforms were streaming content that also has potential elements of child pornography.
Appearing for Mahurkar, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, emphasised that the petition was not adversarial but highlighted genuine concerns about unrestricted access to explicit content. The plea warned that unregulated sexually explicit material could pollute the minds of youth and children, foster perverted tendencies, and increase crime rates. He stressed that the spread of such content, if unchecked, could severely impact societal values, mental health, and public safety.
The petition also pointed out that despite repeated representations to authorities, no effective action had been taken, necessitating judicial intervention to safeguard public morality and protect vulnerable populations in the digital space.
