New Delhi, June 18 (Bureau) As the government is in process to finalize “Digital India” Bill, Save Culture Save Bharat foundation has urged the Centre to ban social media platforms like ‘X’ and Netflix for Violations of POCSO Act, 2012 & other laws of the land by beaming devastating Sexually Explicit Content and waging a war against India’s culture & character. “Proposed Digital India Bill must include provisions for an immediate ban on sexually perverted content…” it said adding the Government of India should also enact a Law of Ethics Code for all AV platforms and float a National Content Control Authority with judicial or quasi-judicial powers to make India the world’s first sexually perverted content free nation.
This comes in the wake of the government’s plans to introduce the Digital India Bill to check AI-generated deepfake videos. The Save Culture Save Bharat Foundation has presented damning evidence that X (formerly Twitter) and Netflix have become platforms for broadcasting pornographic, sexually explicit and obscene content across India in blatant violation of laws like the POCSO Act, Indian Penal Code, IT Act and Indecent Representation of Women Act. The Foundation demands an immediate ban on the operations of both X and Netflix for these “blatant unlawful acts threatening to tear apart India’s character and cultural heritage. The Foundation also recommended that the upcoming Digital India Bill should include provisions for immediate ban on any propagation and streaming of sexually perverted content by any platform.
If any platform fails to control the pornographic content on their platform, it should be banned immediately. Addressing the media, Uday Mahurkar, the Foundation’s Founder, accused these platforms of enabling easy access to pornographic sewage for millions of Indian children. “In the post-COVID era, children mandatorily use mobile devices for education which exposes them to the obscene content from X and Netflix. Any pornography on an adult’s mobile is accessible to their children too.” Mahurkar criticized the government’s IT Rules of 2021 as toothless and ineffective in controlling platforms like Netflix that has a co-chairperson role in the Digital Publisher Content Grievance Council (DPCGC) which is meant to address public grievances.
Other DPCGC members like MUBI also have dedicated porn sections. Mahurkar stated that the government is planning to introduce the Digital India Bill to check AI-generated deepfake videos and explore better ways to use the technology. “In this bill, the government should include a provision that if any content provider or aggregator fails to control the streaming of pornographic content, then it should be banned immediately and not allowed to operate in India. The upcoming bill should be drafted with stakeholder consultations and made more strong and impactful, unlike previous toothless bills which have served almost negligible benefits.”