India's Supreme Court observes that OTT platforms are showing pornography and proposes screening of online content

• Within days of the Indian government releasing new rules on how platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and others should be governed, the Supreme Court has a new proposal.
• The apex court believes that since going to the cinema is becoming obsolete as more hop online to catch movies, everything released on OTT platforms should be screened.
• These comments came as the Supreme Court heard a plea filed by Amazon Prime Video’s commercial head, Aparna Purohit challenging the Allahabad High Court’s judgement.

The Supreme Court of India has observed that online content on over-the-top (OTT) platforms should be screened. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by Amazon Prime Video’s commercial head, Aparna Purohit.

She has challenged the Allahabad High Court’s judgement denying her pre-arrest bail in the criminal cases registered in connection to the controversial show called Tandav.


“We are of the view that some screening should take place. In fact, some platforms even show pornography,” said the bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, according to LiveLaw.

This comes after the Indian government introduced new rules for the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ Hotstar, last week. According to Bhushan, ‘traditional’ film viewing has now become obsolete and screening may be required for OTT platforms as more people head to the internet to catch the latest movie.


India’s new IT Rules mandate that there needs to be a three-tier mechanism to address complaints and the classification of content. However, nowhere does it say that content will be screened before being allowed to appear online.


Aparna Purohit and the Tandav-controversy
Purohit has been booked under three sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act 2008 and five sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). According to the prosecution, the Uttar Pradesh police, Tandav includes inappropriate depictions of the police force as well as Hindu gods and goddesses.

Law	Section	Accusations action Purohit
IT Act,2008	Section 66	Computer-related offences
IT Act,2008	Section 66F	Punishment for cyber terrorism
IT Act,2008	Section 67	Transmitting obscene material
IPC	Section 153-A	Promoting enmity between different groups
IPC	Section 295	Defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion
IPC	Section 505(1)(b)	Public mischief
IPC	Section 505(2)	Statements promoting hatred between classes
IPC	Section 469	Forgery for purpose of harming reputation

The Allahabad High Court denied Purohit anticipatory bail on the grounds that the scenes within Tandav, have been made ‘intentionally’ using the names of Hindu gods to convey an insidious message.

"The sentiments of the majority community have been hurt by the display of the characters of their faith in disrespectful manner and on the other hand… The applicant had not been vigilant and has acted irresponsibly making her open to criminal prosecution in permitting streaming of a movie which is against the fundamental rights of the majority of citizens of this country," said the court’s verdict.

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