Overview
- The government disclosed Wednesday that it has disabled public access to 50 over‑the‑top streaming services in India over the past two years after receiving complaints about obscene material.
- Ministers said the takedowns were carried out under Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act, Section 294 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and Section 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
- Authorities used the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media, Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 to process complaints and relied on Section 79(3)(b) powers to direct intermediaries to remove or disable access to content.
- The official reply to a Lok Sabha question gave an aggregate count but did not name the individual platforms affected or detail specific pieces of content.
- The government frames the steps as routine, complaint‑driven enforcement aimed at online safety and child protection, and the disclosures signal faster, rules‑based takedown powers that could affect platform moderation, creators, and viewers.