Indian govt banned 18 online platforms for pornographic content

The Indian govt has banned up to 18 online platforms for posting vulgar, inappropriate, and pornographic content. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) of the Indian govt has banned up to 18 online streaming platforms, 10 websites, and 57 social media accounts for indecent content.

MIB has banned all these platforms under Section 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, and Section 292 (selling of immoral content etc) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Moreover, it includes Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

#Government blocks 18 streaming platforms for obscene, pornographic contenthttps://t.co/vcXMReEL7W pic.twitter.com/9lqfNP69cT
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) March 14, 2024

Besharms, Hunters, Dream Films, MoodX, NeonX, XtraMood, and other companies have their platforms banned because they produce sexually oriented content.

Other blocked platforms include Voovi, Yessma, Uncut Adda, and Tri Flicks. X Prime, Neon X VIP, Rabbit, Nuefliks, Mojflix, Hot Shots VIP, Fugi, Chikooflix, and Prime Play are among others.

MIB released a statement that they found a significant amount of the content provided on these platforms filthy and vulgar. They presented women in a humiliating way.

According to MIB, the blocked platforms featured nudity and sexual behaviors in a variety of unsuitable situations, including teacher-student interactions and intimate family relationships.

Moreover, the content contained sexual references and in some cases extended parts of pornographic and blunt sexual sequences with no conceptual or societal value on banned platforms.

MIB informed one of the banned apps had over 10 million downloads. However, the other two had over five million downloads on the Google Play Store.

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Seven of the ten blocked apps were found on the Google Play Store while three on the Apple App Store. However, MIB has not provided the names of these apps.

On the other hand, MIB has also blocked 12 Facebook, 17 Instagram, 16 X (Twitter), and 12 YouTube accounts. All these social media accounts featured trailers, specific scenes, and external links to sexual and pornographic content.

However, a self-regulatory board established under Part III of the IT Rules issued a violation notice against Ullu in June 2023. Ullu is another streaming platform not on the recent list of blocked platforms based on vulgar content.