The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) on Thursday said it has taken action in coordination with various intermediaries, to block 18 OTT platforms publishing obscene, vulgar, and, in some instances, pornographic content.
19 websites, 10 apps (7 on Google Play Store, 3 on Apple App Store), and 57 social media accounts associated with these platforms have been disabled for public access in India, the ministry said in a statement.
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur has emphasised the responsibility of the platforms to not propagate obscenity, vulgarity and abuse under the guise of 'creative expression'.
The decision to act against the OTT platforms was taken under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 in consultation with other ministries/departments of the Government, and domain experts specialising in media and entertainment, women's rights, and child rights, the statement said.
List Of OTT Platforms Banned By Government
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
Prime Play
The statement said that a significant portion of the content hosted on these platforms was found to be obscene, vulgar, and portrayed women in a demeaning manner.
"It depicted nudity and sexual acts in various inappropriate contexts, such as relationships between teachers and students, incestuous family relationships, etc," it said.
The content included sexual innuendos and, in some instances, prolonged segments of pornographic and sexually explicit scenes devoid of any thematic or societal relevance.
One of the OTT apps amassed more than 1 crore downloads, while two others had over 50 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store.
Additionally, these OTT platforms extensively utilized social media to disseminate trailers, specific scenes, and external links aimed at attracting audiences to their websites and apps.
The social media accounts of the concerned OTT platforms had a cumulative followership of over 32 lakh users.
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