PIL seeks censorship of adult content in social media and OTT platforms

The Madras High Court asked the central and the state governments to reply within a month to a plea seeking a censor board for regulating adult content in the social media and OTT platforms.

: The Madras High Court on Wednesday

asked the central and the state governments to reply within a month to a plea seeking a censor board for regulating adult content in the social media and OTT platforms.

A bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice R Hemalatha, admitting a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by advocate K Suthan, issued notices to the governments.

The petitioner sought the court to also temporarily stop social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook Instagram and OTT platforms like Netflix, MX Player, Voot and Zee5 from uploading or telecasting any videos.

A registered account alone was enough to start a channel, which provides a platform to upload videos in social media such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram without any restriction or censor, he said.

 

Further, the petitioner said there were several adult content videos in the social media which could have an adverse effect on the minds of school and college students.

Hence the PIL, he said, adding the contents released in over-the-top (OTT) platforms, that are digitally streamed, need to be censored.