The Government of India is on a mission to purge the “vulgar, obscene, and pornographic” content from the Indian OTT landscape. Yesterday (July 25th), the government announced the ban of several popular OTT platforms, including the likes of Desiflix, ALTT, ULLU, and more, as they were found distributing “soft porn” content under the guise of erotic web shows.
These platforms were found to be violating numerous regulations and laws, including the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act, the IT Act, and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, among others. This decisive action is widely lauded as a necessary step to safeguard public decency and protect vulnerable audiences, particularly minors.
But, but, but! Sadly, the government still has a long way to go. With the rising efforts to clean up the Indian digital space, a pertinent question pops up, one that echoes the sentiments of plenty of Indian OTT viewers:
If the government is so hell-bent on burying porn-related content for good, why do highly sensual and “adult-oriented” condom advertisements continue to saturate mainstream platforms like JioHotstar, often appearing during family viewing times or even on profiles designated for younger audiences?
This apparent inconsistency highlights an important but uncomfortable truth about content regulation in India: the line between the “sensual” and the “obscene” is subjective, culturally influenced, and frequently defined by context and intent.
Yes, there’s no denying that condoms are important sexual health products, used to advocate key issues such as STI prevention, family planning, and more. But instead of their advertisements being educational and informative, they’re overly sensual, barely walking the thin line between sensual and obscene. As a result, they’re unwatchable for many viewers.
The public outcry against these unskippable condom ads on platforms like JioHotstar is valid. Complaints range from awkwardness during family viewing to concerns about children being exposed to potentially inappropriate content.
The government is walking a tough line here. They need to preserve societal values and ban content that clearly breaks obscenity laws. But they also have to promote safe sex, a major public health goal. The challenge is bringing these two aims together. They don’t want to ban everything and kill important health messages. But they also can’t let sensual ads bypass the decency rules applied to other digital content.
As more and more people use digital platforms in India, the conversation about what’s “appropriate” will only get louder. This will push the authorities to look more closely not just at what’s shown, but how it’s shown, and how it impacts everyone. Stay tuned for more updates.