We are accused of interfering with executive and legislative functions, says Supreme Court

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih said that the issue raised in the petition is a policy matter, and it is in the policy domain of the Central government.

It's for the Union of India to frame regulations in this regard, said the bench to the counsel appearing for the petitioner who filed the plea.

"... We are accused that we are interfering with the executive and legislative functions," said Justice Gavai, while referring that the issue is in the domain of the government.

The remarks of bench came in wake of recent comments made by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey who accused the court of judicial overreach.

As advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, appearing for petitioner Uday Mahurkar and others, urged the apex court to hear the matter, the bench asked him to serve a copy of the petition on the counsel of the Central government.

The bench then posted the matter for hearing next week.

The PIL filed against Netflix, Amazon, Alt Balaji and others assailing the distribution of obscene material through the OTT streaming platforms.

It sought direction of constitution of an authority/committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge and consisting of eminent experts in the field to oversee and certify for the publishing, streaming of movies/shows/web series on OTT Platforms and social media's on the lines of the CBFC until the appropriate legislature enacts a law for regulating such streaming.

The petition sought direction to the Centre "to take appropriate steps to prohibit the streaming of sexually explicit, pornographic, paedophilic, incestuous and other content of similar nature including nudity, X-rated scenes, etc. on OTT Platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Ullu, ALTT, etc. and social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter), Meta (formerly Facebook), Instagram, YouTube, etc."

If left unchecked, this unregulated spread of obscene material could have severe consequences on societal values, mental health and public safety, said the PIL.

The petitioners said they are compelled to raise this matter due to the rampant availability of pornographic, obscene, and sexually deviant content across digital platforms.

"The unchecked circulation of such material, including child pornography and softcore adult content, has contributed to a rising trend of crimes against women and children while negatively shaping the psychological development of young minds," it said.

OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Ullu, ALTT (formerly, ALT Balaji), etc. continue to stream highly explicit content, some of which violates child rights and safety due to such sexually deviant material, the petition stated.

The petition further sought direction to the Centre to stop access to the social media- X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc., as well as OTT platforms until they formulate a mechanism to ensure that all pornographic content is made inaccessible, especially to children and minors in India.

Lay down guidelines by constituting a National Content Control Authority to prohibit sexually perverted content on OTT Platforms and various social media platforms, it also asked.