Madras High Court Issues Notice On Plea To Prevent Online Review Of New Movies For First 3 Days After Release

Though Justice S Sounther orally remarked that criticism formed part of the freedom of speech and expression which could not be curtailed, the court decided to issue notice to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Information Technology and Digital Services in State of Tamil Nadu, Commissioner of Police and Youtube.

The notice was ordered in a petition filed by the Tamil Film Active Producers Association (TFAPA) through its General Secretary T Sivalingam. The association works for the interest of film producers and helping the producers with the production, marketing, distribution and managing of the film.

In its plea, the association submitted that with the rise of social media platforms and evolution of the cinema industry, there has been a parallel growth in the field of criticism where movie reviewers are playing a huge part in shaping the audience perception, influencing the industry trends and fostering meaningful discussions on cinema. While the association admitted that the landscape of film criticism has become democratized, it was submitted that these criticisms have brought in unimaginable challenges.

The association submitted that in some cases, a group of people were employed to spread negative review about a particular film due to past enmity or business rivalry leading to a biased opinion about a film even before the common audience gets a chance to watch it and form their own opinion. It was submitted that due to the negative review bombing, the integrity of the reviewing process itself is at stake.

The association added that the negative reviews are often disproportionate to the quality of the film and could have significant repercussions on the film's reputation, box office collection etc. The association submitted that often times, fake profiles were created on social media platforms with the sole purpose of posting negative reviews about a movie in exchange for monetary compensation.

While it was admitted that there were genuine reviewers who gave fair criticism of the movie, the association submitted that recently there has been a rise in YouTube channels indulging in negative review bombing, sometimes using derogatory words, to increase their subscriber base and views which has become a serious threat.

It was submitted that the producers have a legitimate right to safeguard their business and professional interest just like the public has a right to express their opinion provided they are fair and without any ulterior motive. The association informed the court that due to negative review bombing, there were instances where the producers had a hard time selling the movies to the OTT platforms and Satellite channels and in some cases even theatres were getting closed due to poor box office performance.

Thus, the association approached the court to prevent such review bombing within the first three days of the release. An interim direction has also been sought to impose severe restrictions against social media platforms from recording public reviews of new films inside theatre premises.

Case Title: Tamil Film Active Producers Association (TFAPA) v Union of India and Others

Case No: WP 36716 of 2024