OTT Platforms Banned: The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) has initiated measures to block 18 OTT platforms for showcasing obscene and vulgar content and in some cases pornographic content as well. As many as 19 websites, 10 apps (7 on Google Play Store, 3 on Apple App Store), and 57 associated social media accounts across India have been disabled for public access.
List of Banned OTT platform:
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 |
A substantial portion of the content available on these platforms was deemed to be “obscene, vulgar, and portrayed women in a demeaning manner”. The content often contained sexual implications and, in some cases, extended sequences of explicit and pornographic scenes lacking any thematic or societal significance.
Upon assessment, the content was found to prima facie contravene Section 67 and 67A of the IT Act, Section 292 of the IPC, and Section 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
One of the OTT platforms garnered over 1 crore downloads, with two others reaching over 50 lakh downloads on Google Play Store. Furthermore, these OTT platforms heavily relied on social media platforms to share trailers, select scenes, and external links to drive traffic to their websites and applications. Collectively, the social media accounts associated with these OTT platforms had amassed a following of more than 3.2 million users.