Supreme Court seeks Centre’s reply on regulation of OTT, social media content

New Delhi, Apr 28: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Central government and several major technology and streaming platforms on a plea seeking regulation of sexually explicit and inappropriate content available on over-the-top (OTT) platforms and social media as reported by Bar & Bench,

A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih sought responses from X Corp, Netflix, Amazon, Ullu Digital, ALTBalaji, MUBI, Google, Apple and Meta.

During the hearing, the Bench observed that matters concerning regulation of content primarily fall within the domain of the legislature and executive. “As it is, we are facing allegations of encroaching into legislative and executive domains,” Justice Gavai remarked, while proceeding to issue notice, reports Bar & Bench.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said that some regulations already exist and further steps are under consideration. The Court noted that the petition raised an important concern regarding children’s exposure to such material.

The petitioner, represented by Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, submitted that sexually explicit content is available online without adequate checks or restrictions. The Court recorded the submissions and directed the respondents to file their replies. The matter will be heard again after the responses are received.