Supreme Court: Obscenity on OTT Platforms and Social Media a Serious Concern I Seeks Centre’s Response on Plea for Regulation of Explicit Content
Isabella Mariam
The Supreme Court on Monday (April 28) agreed to consider a plea seeking regulation of obscene content on OTT platforms and social media, describing the issue as raising "serious concerns." A bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih issued notice to the Union Government, as well as to Netflix, Amazon Prime, AltBalaji, Ullu Digital, Mubi, and social media platforms X Corp, Google, Meta Inc, and Apple.
"Let Netflix etc. be also here, they also have social responsibility," Justice Gavai said during the hearing. The petition was tagged with similar pending matters.
Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the petitioners, described the case as raising a "genuine concern" rather than being adversarial. He drew attention to the circulation of unregulated content across social media platforms. Justice Gavai turned to the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and asked, "Yes, Mr Solicitor? Do something...something legislative.."
Responding to the Court, Solicitor General Mehta said he shared the petitioners' concerns after reviewing the material submitted. He remarked that obscene content was found even in regular programming, stating that some shows are "so perverted that even two respectable men cannot sit together and watch them." While acknowledging that censorship was not desirable, Mehta said that regulation was necessary. "There is some regulation in place, some is in contemplation," he added.
Recording the submissions, the bench noted, "This petition raises an important concern with regard to the display of various objectionable, obscene and indecent contents on OTT platforms and social media. Learned Solicitor General fairly states that contents go to the extent of perversity. He submits that certain more regulations are in contemplation."
The lead petitioner in the case is journalist and former Information Commissioner Uday Mahurkar. Co-petitioners include Sanjeew Newar, Sudeshna Bhattacharjya Mukherjee, Shatabdi Pande, and Svati Goyal.
Advocates Representing the Parties:
For the Petitioners: Mr. Vishnu Shankar Jain, Advocate; Mr. Parth Yadav, Advocate-on-Record
For the Respondents: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for Union of India
Case Title: Uday Mahurkar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.
Case Number: Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 313/2025
Bench: Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih
