Supreme Court to Address Ban on Explicit Content on OTT: A Legal Tug of War

The Supreme Court will hear a plea seeking a ban on sexually explicit content on OTT and social media platforms. The plea proposes establishing a National Content Control Authority and calls for urgent measures to protect societal values and public safety from unregulated explicit material proliferation.

On Monday, the Supreme Court is set to deliberate on a significant plea demanding action to prohibit the streaming of sexually explicit content across over the top (OTT) and social media platforms. The plea suggests forming a National Content Control Authority to curb such content effectively.

Presiding over the case will be Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih, as scheduled in the top court's roster for April 28. The petition highlights the unfiltered dissemination of pornographic material on social media, which often includes potential child pornography elements on various OTT platforms.

The plea argues that without intervention, this unrestricted exposure to obscene content could severely impact societal values, mental health, and public safety. It calls for the state to fulfill its constitutional responsibility to uphold public morality and shield vulnerable groups from such exposure.

(With inputs from agencies.)