Overview
- The government disclosed on July 22 that it disabled public access in India to 50 over‑the‑top streaming services over the past two years for hosting obscene or unlawful material.
- Ministers said the removals were carried out under the IT Act and related laws, citing Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act, Section 294 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the Indecent Representation of Women Act.
- Newer IT Rules give intermediaries narrow deadlines to act, with complaints about nudity or morphed intimate images subject to two‑hour removal windows and court or government orders requiring action within three hours.
- Authorities have told large social media and platform intermediaries to deploy automated detection tools, report offences to police and child‑welfare bodies, and respond to notices from the NCPCR about child sexual abuse material.
- The government frames the campaign as part of a wider online‑safety push that includes the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, the Online Gaming Act and an ISEA awareness drive that held 6,650 workshops reaching over 1.13 million people, and the steps signal tighter compliance costs and faster takedown duties for platforms.