The Supreme Court yesterday ordered that video content on OTT (Over The Top) sites be screened, claiming that “even pornographic material” is being shown on some of them. The Supreme Court said there should be a system in place to screen such programs, and it ordered the government to present the court with the government’s latest guidelines for regulating social media sites.
“It is now popular to watch movies on the internet or via over-the-top (OTT) services. We believe that some sort of screening is needed”. Justice Ashok Bhushan said. He was hearing an application by Aparna Purohit, the India head of Amazon, who has challenged an order by the Allahabad High Court in the ongoing investigation into the web series ‘Tandav’.
“A balance has to be struck as some OTT platforms are also showing pornographic materials on their platforms.” Justice R S Reddy said. He was also a part of the bench.
On Friday, when the case will be heard, the bench has asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to present the government’s latest instructions for regulating social media sites.
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On January 27, the Supreme court refused to offer interim security from coercion to Ali Abbas Zafar, the web series’ director, Ms. Purohit, producer Himanshu Mehra, the show’s writer Gaurav Solanki, and actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub. It instead directed them to obtain bail from the courts involved in the FIRs filed in relation to the new show.
Ms. Purohit has now appealed to the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court’s refusal to grant her anticipatory bail on February 25.
The High Court had stated in its decision while refusing Ms. Purohit’s anticipatory bail application, that “such people make revered figures of the religion of the majority group source of earning money in a most brazen manner taking advantage of the liberal and tolerant tradition of the nation.”
Ms. Purohit’s counsel, senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, stated in the Supreme Court today that about ten cases have already been filed against her, despite the fact that she was just a worker and not the creator who broadcast the web series on the OTT website.
The Uttar Pradesh Police had registered an FIR against the top Amazon Prime executive for depicting Hindu deities in a negative light and using the series to promote religious animosity.
Tandav, a nine-part crime drama starring Bollywood A-listers Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, premiered on Amazon Prime in January of this year.
