Supreme Court issues notice to the centre and OTT platforms on plea to regulate obscene content

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre regarding a plea seeking stricter regulation of sexually explicit content on OTT platforms and social media. A division bench, comprising Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih, made it clear that the responsibility for regulating such content rests with the Executive and Legislature.

During the hearing, Justice Gavai remarked, “There are already accusations that we are overstepping into the domain of the legislature and executive. It is not our domain — you do something.”

Responding to the court, government representatives stated that while certain regulations are already in place to control explicit online content, additional measures are currently under active consideration.

The notice comes after Public Interest Litigations (PILs) urged the apex court to instruct the Centre to establish a National Content Control Authority. Petitioners argued that the lack of stringent laws has enabled the unchecked proliferation of explicit material online, with some alleging that certain OTT platforms are even airing content amounting to ‘child pornography.’

Earlier, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had given an advisory to OTT platforms, underlining the requirement of more stringent age-based content categorization and compliance with the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021.

The advisory from the Supreme Court came after there was controversy over an episode of the YouTube show India’s Got Latent, hosted by comedian Samay Raina and podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia, during which “inappropriate” comments were made during the show.

The government’s guidance set out six key points for content publishers and self-regulation organizations, reaffirming the importance of adhering to current legal standards and upholding ethical content guidelines.