SC Seeks Govt Input on Vulgar OTT Content PIL

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Union government's response on a petition seeking regulation or prohibition of sexually explicit and obscene content on social media and Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms in India.

- Ayesha Arvind

BENGALURU:

A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih also issued notices to major OTT and social media platforms including X Corp, Netflix, Amazon, Ullu Digital, ALTBalaji, MUBI, Google, Apple, and Meta.

The Court, however, cautioned that it might have limited scope for interference and that the government must step in to regulate such content.

"This is either for the legislature or executive. As it is, we are being accused by some of interfering with legislative and executive functions," the bench said, referring to recent criticism of the judiciary by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Earlier this month, Dhankhar lashed out at the judiciary following the Supreme Court's ruling on Governors holding up assent to state bills and said courts cannot direct the President.