‘OTT Has Become Desi Porn’

‘This
kind
of
content
will
destroy
our
culture.’

The
Supreme
Court
of
India
on
April
28
raised
serious
concerns
over
obscene
content
on
Over
the
Top
(OTT)
platforms
and
on
social
media,
and
stated
some
regulation
is
needed.

The
apex
court
also
sought
a
response
from
the
Union
government,
Amazon
Prime,
Netflix,
ALTT,
Ullu,
Facebook,
Instagram,
YouTube
and
X
seeking
their
detailed
perspective
and
replies.

The
court
action
came
on
a
public
interest
litigation
filed
by
former
Central
Information
Commissioner

Uday
Mahurkar
urging
the
apex
court
to
ban
such
OTT
platforms
which
were
promoting
obscene
and
vulgar
content
in
India.

“Husband
and
wife
having
sex
is
a
private
matter,
why
do
you
want
to
showcase
it
in
public?
This
is
not
good,”
Mahurkar
tells

Syed
Firdaus
Ashraf/Rediff.

Why
did
you
go
to
court
over
vulgarity
shown
on
OTT
channels,
what
prompted
it?

Let
me
take
you
back
to
2003.
There
was
a
movie
called

Jism
starring
Bipasha
Basu.
The
subject
of
the
movie
was
the
infidelity
of
a
married
woman.
At
that
point
I
had
raised
objections
over
this
movie’s
subject
at
a
seminar
that
was
held
for
a
nationalist
cause.
I
had
pointed
out
way
back
then
that
if
we
as
a
society
continue
to
go
like
the
movie

Jism
portrays,
we
will
be
over
as
a
society.

Unfortunately,
people
who
were
closely
associated
with
promoting
Indian
cultural
values
could
not
do
much
against
it.
Post

Jism,
the
trend
of
making
movies
on
such
subjects
started
growing.
I
took
every
community
together,
be
it
Muslims,
Parsis,
Sikhs,
Christians
and
Hindus
to
save
family
values
from
movies
like

Jism.
Unfortunately,
I
met
with
little
success
then.

But
what
was
your
objection
to

Jism?

It
was
perverted
content.
In
2018,
OTT
content
came.
Today,
OTT
has
become

desi
porn.

In
2020,
we
faced
the
Covid
pandemic
and
the
OTT
condition
worsened
with
more
and
more
obscene
movies
being
showcased.

Right
now
there
are
909
OTT
platforms
in
India.
Out
of
these
909
OTT
platforms,
700
to
800
of
them
showcase
either
vulgar
or
obscene
content.

These
OTT
channels
have
stooped
so
low
that
they
are
showing
father-in-law
having
an
affair
with
daughter-in-law
or
teacher
having
an
affair
with
student
or
brother-in-law
having
affair
with
his
brother’s
wife.

This
kind
of
content
will
destroy
our
culture
in
future.

But
was
not
pornography
available
before
OTT
too?

It
was,
but
now
OTT
has
worsened
the
situation
by
making
pornography
easily
accessible.

By
showcasing
perverted
content
on
OTT,
one
can
influence
and
damage
the
minds
of
our
teenage
children.

In
2022,
when
I
was
Right
to
Information
commissioner,
I
met
a
friend
who
told
me
that
our
culture
is
in
danger
if
we
keep
on
going
like
this
with
OTT
content.

He
also
told
me
that
the
influence
of
Bollywood
on
society
was
so
strong
that
no
one
would
listen
to
our
pleas
on
OTT
content.

We
also
came
to
the
conclusion
that
pornography
is
a
cause
of
rape.
And
if
we
wanted
to,
we
had
to
prove
it.
Once
proved,
there
will
be
awareness
in
the
society.

Do
you
seriously
believe
what
is
shown
on
some
OTT
channels
leads
to
rapes?

Yes,
100
percent.
I
have
proof.

Did
you
give
any
examples
in
your
PIL?

Yes,
we
submitted
all
the
proof
in
court.

You
must
have
read
about
kids
raping
other
kids.
Recently
there
was
a
case
where
a
55-year-old
man
raped
his
brother’s
young
daughter.

There
is
a
famous
case
in
Florida,
US,
where
the
accused
admitted
that
he
got
addicted
to
watching
pornography
from
childhood.
And
when
he
raped
a
girl
for
the
first
time
he
killed
the
girl
to
hide
evidence
of
his
crime.
This
became
a
habit
for
him.
And
when
he
met
other
rape
accused
in
Florida
jail,
he
said
all
accused
stated
that
pornography
was
the
reason
they
started
raping
women.

We
have
done
research
on
this
subject
and
therefore
want
action
against
OTT
channels
showcasing
porn
content.

Which
OTT
channels
in
particular?

There
are
many
like
Alt
Balaji,
Ullu,
Netflix,
Amazon
Prime
Video.
We
have
taken
examples
of
films
and
taken
details
of
every
film
that
has
been
showcased
on
these
OTT
channels
which
are
obscene.

Netflix
had
125
films
that
showcased
obscene
content.
Another
one
from
Ekta
Kapoor
is

XXX
Uncensored.
The
less
I
say
about
it
the
better
it
is
because
it
crosses
all
the
limits
of
decency.

You
also
wanted
Ekta
Kapoor
to
be
arrested
under
the
POCSO
(Protection
of
Child
from
Sexual
Offences)
Act.
Is
this
not
going
too
far?

No,
not
at
all.
When
you
are
showcasing
a
girl
in
school
uniform
involved
in
intimate
scenes,
then
you
got
to
be
arrested
under
POCSO.

How
do
you
control
these
OTT
platforms?

Ban
them.
Muslim
countries
do
not
allow
such
content
to
be
telecast.
Singapore
and
South
Korea
are
the
other
two
countries
where
such
content
is
strictly
monitored.

Why
don’t
we
regulate
OTT
platforms?

It
is
because
Ekta
Kapoor
and
other
Bollywood
biggies
have
a
tremendous
influence
on
our
society.

Why
has
the
government
failed
to
take
action
against
OTT
channels?

We
appealed
to
them
but
they
have
not
done
anything
on
this
issue
yet.
Only
once
were
18
OTT
channels
and
57
social
media
handles


banned
by
the
Government
of
India.

Once
the
Ullu
app
was
bringing
in
its
IPO
but
then
I
approached
SEBI
(the
Securities
of
Exchange
Board
of
India)
against
them
through
my
NGO,
Save
Culture
Save
Bharat
Foundation.
I
told
SEBI
that
Ullu
claimed
they
are
an
entertainment
company
but
I
registered
a
protest
at
SEBI
stating
they
are
a
porn-based
company.
After
which
their
IPO
did
not
come
out.

It
is
said
that
movies
depict
what
happens
in
society.
Do
you
feel
so?

No,
this
is
wrong
analysis.
Freedom
comes
with
responsibility.

This
is
also
written
in
the
Indian
Constitution.
You
cannot
misuse
your
creative
freedom.
We
want
a
complete
ban
on
porn
in
India.
Fifty
years
ago
there
was
no
porn
and
people
in
India
were
living,
isn’t
it?

Are
you
saying
50
years
ago
rapes
were
not
happening
in
India?

This
is
a
matter
of
research.
I
am
talking
about
right
now,
rapes
are
happening
because
of
the
porn
industry.

Husband
and
wife
having
sex
is
a
private
matter,
why
do
you
want
to
showcase
it
in
public?
This
is
not
good.

A
film
director
once
told
me
titillation
is
very
natural
for
a
human
being
and
when
you
showcase
it
on
the
big
screen
it
sells.

This
is
wrong.
This
particular
director
wants
to
sell
his
dirty
thoughts
to
the
public
so
he
made
this
statement
to
you.

Moreover,
we
believe
in
Viksit
Bharat
and
if
you
showcase
such
content
on
OTT,
will
we
ever
be
able
to
achieve
our
goal
by
2047?

Today,
the
whole
world
is
looking
at
us
and
we
need
to
save
our
culture.