Delhi HC To Hear Plea For Regulation Of Content On Netflix, Amazon Prime

Judiciary Oct 16, 2018 Editor : Shreya Bansal 0 Shares

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking regulation of content shown on online platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and others.

Also Read - CONSTITUTION DAY OF INDIA: 26TH NOVEMBER 2020

An NGO, Justice for Rights Foundation, has filed a petition through AdvocateHarpreet Singh Hora, calling for the Delhi High Court’s intervention to clamp down on the “unregulated, uncertified, sexually explicit, vulgar, profane and legally restricted content broadcasted on the online platforms including (but not limited to) Netflix, Amazon Prime Video etc.”

The petition contends that the “said online platforms stream content which is full of vulgarity, sexually explicit, pornographic, profane, virulent, religiously forbidden, morally unethical, depictive of women in objectifying manner, content which is deliberately created with scenes of nudity, scripts containing abusive language in order to attract more subscribers and generate profit.”

Also Read - ABAP Initiates Signature Campaign About the Need to Make Official Documents of Schedule VIII of the Indian Constitution Available in all Languages

Citing examples of shows like Sacred Games, Vikings, Game of Thrones and Spartacus, the petitioner raised the issue of such content being accessible to minors.

“An instance can be taken from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” where the scene depicting animal (the holy ‘Cow’) abuse is available for view (for viewers of age 7 years and above) on Amazon Prime Video,” the petition reads.

Further, the petition argues that such content not only disregards the reasonable restrictions contained in Article 19 (2) of the Constitution of India, it also contravenes laws such as the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.

The petitioner had filed an RTI representation with the Union IT Ministry to discern the laws regulating such online shows. However, the IT Ministry responded by intimating that the responsibility to exercise diligence lay on the intermediaries, and not the Government under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000. However, the petition points out that no such diligence is exercised by the intermediaries.

Moreover, it was also noted that “section 79 of the IT Act does not apply to all the online platforms in the present case as a blanket provision as the platforms stream third-party content and also give self- generated content.”

The matter is expected to be taken up for hearing on November 14, 2018.

Earlier this month, a similar plea was also filed in the Bombay High Court seeking to regulate the content of ‘web series’ or other programs that are broadcasted directly through the internet on various streaming platforms.

Thereafter, the Bombay High Court issued notices to the I&B Ministry, Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Home Affairs and also the Nagpur police commissioner seeking replies by October 31, 2018.

E-court option along with physical hearing to be the way ahead : Justice Gautam Patel

Legal Insiders Dec 29, 2020 Dev Kumar Patel ( Editor: Ekta Joshi ) 6 Shares

A Webinar had been jointly organised on 26th December 2020 by NGOs Forum for Fast Justice, Public Concern for Governance Trust and National Federation of Societies for Fast Justice on a vision for virtual courts addressing the need and importance of virtual hearings in Indian judicial system.The speakers for the webinar included Retired Justice R.C. Chavan, present Vice Chairperson of Supreme Court E-Committee and Justice Gautam S. Patel, judge of the Bombay High Court. The talk was moderated...

Read full post

Bombay HC Directs Govt. of Maharastra to Pay Rs.50 K Each as Compensation to 2 Men Detained Illegally [READ ORDER]

Judiciary Dec 29, 2020 Dev Kumar Patel ( Editor: Ekta Joshi ) 8 Shares

The Bombay High Court came down heavily on State Govt. of Maharashtra and directed them to pay Rs.50,000/- to Arun Tagad and Shailendra Tagad(Petitioners) as compensation for illegal detention in custody at the instance Rural Police Station, Beed District of Aurangabad Division. The bench also observed that in such cases the State needs to obtain explanation from the erring authority and fix some kind of responsibility.The Division bench at Aurangabad comprised by Justice T. V....

Read full post