The Union health ministry on Wednesday mandated anti-tobacco warnings for OTT platforms. The ministry’s notification has laid down rules for anti-tobacco warnings for publishers, and any failure to comply will result in strict actions against them. OTT platforms are now required to display anti-tobacco warnings and disclaimers similar to the ones shown in movies screened in theatres and in television programmes.
Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya released the guidelines on World No Tobacco Day and said publishers of online curated content that display tobacco products or their use would have to comply with the new guidelines, including an anti-tobacco warning message. These messages have to be legible and readable with black font on a white background with the warnings, Tobacco causes cancer’ or Tobacco kills’.
Failure to comply with the provisions will result in action taken by an inter-ministerial committee, either suo moto or on receiving a complaint. This committee comprises representatives from the health ministry, information and broadcasting ministry and the ministry of electronics and information technology. The panel will identify the publisher of the online curated content, issue a notice providing a reasonable opportunity to explain the failure and require appropriate modifications to the content. These guidelines would go a long way to dissuade tobacco consumption, Mandaviya said.
According to the new rules, publishes would have to displace anti-tobacco health spots, messages and disclaimers lasting a minimum of 30 seconds each at the beginning and middle of the programmes. Messages must be in the same language as the online curated content.
The health spots, messages and disclaimers will be made available to the publisher of the online curated content on the health ministry’s website.
The display of tobacco products or their use in online curated content and promotional materials is prohibited.
Expressing concerns over the rising use of tobacco among the young generation, Mandaviya said it was time to make them aware of debilitating and harmful effects of tobacco consumption.