In a landmark move, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) has taken decisive action against three over-the-top (OTT) platforms—Hunters, Besharams, and Prime Play—allegedly hosting obscene and borderline pornographic content. This marks the first instance where laws specifically addressing vulgarity have been invoked against OTT platforms.
The I&B Ministry, responding to a surge in complaints regarding explicit content on OTT platforms, issued notices in the last week of October citing violations of the IT Rules, 2021, and other relevant laws related to obscenity. Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act, 2000—pertaining to the publishing or transmitting of obscene material and material containing sexually explicit acts, respectively—were cited in the notices.
All three platforms, operated by Thane-based company Webworld Multimedia Private Limited, were given a five-day ultimatum to ensure compliance with the regulations. In response, a spokesperson for the company confirmed that the flagged content had been taken down, and a comprehensive review of all content was underway.
Sources indicate that the I&B Ministry has been grappling with an increasing number of complaints related to vulgarity on OTT platforms. Of the 57 registered OTT platforms, the majority of complaints are directed towards unregistered platforms that have proliferated recently. Strikingly, all three platforms targeted in this crackdown were found to be unregistered.
