I&B Ministry of India has blocked 18 Over-the-top Applications that promote obscene, pornographic, and vulgar content. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has also disabled 19 websites, 10 apps, and 57 social media accounts that were associated with these apps. The decision was announced under Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act 2000.
Union Minister for I&B ministry, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur announced the blocking of these apps as they propagated vulgarity and obscenity under the guise of creative content.
Full List of Apps that have been Blocked
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- Neon X VIP
- Dreams Films
- Voovi
- Besharams
- MoodX
- Mojiflix
- Hunters
- Yessma
- Hot Shots VIP
- Fugi
- Rabbit
- Uncut Adda
- Tri Flicks
- Chikooflix
- Xtramood
- X Prime
- Nueflinks
- Prime Play
A large amount of content on these platforms was found to be vulgar and obscene, portraying women in a very objectifiable light which has led to the blocking of these platforms. The content showcased nudity, and sexual acts in inappropriate contexts, like relationships between teachers and students, doctors and patients, etc. There were various sexual innuendos and instances of pornographic and explicit scenes as well.
Apps were blocked as they were violating Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act, Section 292 of IPC, and Section 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women Act 1986.
It is a prima facie case which means the action was based on first impressions but it can be further challenged by app makers which might lead to the lifting of the ban. This will be if defendants have evidence to dispute the claim by the government in the first place.
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Reach of Blocked apps
Some of these blocked apps have over 50 lakh downloads on Google Play Store, with one of these having over 1 crore downloads. The apps have also been accused of using social media extensively to promote trailers of their vulgar content to attract audiences.
The social media reach of these apps’ official accounts has a cumulative follower count of over 32 lakh. Out of the 57 social media accounts that have been disabled, 12 are Facebook accounts, 17 are Instagram accounts, 16 are X accounts and 12 are YouTube Channels. All these have been disabled by the GOI.
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While the Government has blocked these 19 apps due to their content, other OTT apps like Hotstar, Jio Cinema, and Netflix are being encouraged by initiatives like the OTT Award for Web Series in 2023 during the 54th International Film Festival of India.
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