OTT Apps Banned In India: From MoodX To Besharams; Central Govt Bans 18 Apps Containing Vulgar Content - LIST

OTT Apps Banned In India: The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, under the central government, has implemented a ban on 18 OTT platforms, including Uncut Adda, Dreams Films, and Prime Play, due to their hosting of 'obscene and vulgar' as well as pornographic content, despite repeated warnings. Additionally, 19 websites, 10 apps, and 57 social media accounts associated with these OTT platforms have been blocked for public access in India.

HERE'S WHY CENTRAL GOVT BANNED OTT PLATFORMS

The ban on these OTT platforms is attributed to the prima facie violation of Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act, Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Section 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.

Explaining the rationale behind the ban, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting highlighted, "A significant portion of the content hosted on these platforms was found to be obscene, vulgar and portrayed women in a demeaning manner. It depicted nudity and sexual acts in various inappropriate contexts, such as relationships between teachers and students, incestuous family relationships, etc."

The I&B Ministry further stated, "The content included sexual innuendos and, in some instances, prolonged segments of pornographic and sexually explicit scenes devoid of any thematic or societal relevance."

LIST OF OTT APPS AND PLATFORMS BANNED BY CENTRAL GOVT

Dreams Films

Prime Play

Voovi

Chikooflix

Yessma

Fugi

Uncut Adda

Hot Shots VIP

Tri Flicks

Mojflix

X Prime

MoodX

Neon X VIP

Nuefliks

Besharams

Xtramood

Hunters

Rabbit

Discussing the magnitude of these OTT apps, the central government stated that one of these apps had garnered over 1 crore downloads, while the other two had accumulated over 50 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store. In contrast, the social media accounts associated with these OTT platforms had a combined followership exceeding 32 lakh users. Well, that's indeed huge! Don't you agree?

As per the government release, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has restricted access to 12 Facebook accounts, 17 Instagram accounts, 16 X (formerly Twitter) accounts, and 12 YouTube accounts.

Stay tuned for more updates!