Petition Filed In Delhi HC Alleging Objectionable Content On Hotstar, Notice Issued [Read Order]

In an order issued on November 11, the High Court of Delhi directed the Centre to examine whether objectionable content, including soft pornography was being made available for download from Hotstar.com.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva issued notices to Star India and its subsidiary, Novi Digital Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., seeking their reply on a petition filed by Un-canned Media Pvt. Ltd., alleging that Hotstar was operating an illegal Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) distribution platform without following the uplinking and downlinking guidelines.

Notices were also issued to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Communication and IT, seeking their response on the allegations that they were negligent in regulating content provided on the IPTV platform website Hotstar.com.

Responding to the allegations, a statement issued by Hotstar stated, “We have been served with a copy of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court’s order dated November 11, 2016 and the pleadings basis which the order came to be passed. While it is not our practice to comment on matters which are sub-judice, we are compelled to provide certain factual clarifications at this stage. Hotstar is a leading destination for the consumption of entertainment and sports content. Hotstar absolutely does not provide any kind of pornographic content. The pleadings proceed on the basis that Hotstar is an IPTV service provider which is entirely incorrect. Like many others, globally and locally, like YouTube, Netflix, Voot, NDTV and Indiatimes, Hotstar is a video streaming platform providing content on demand. In any event, as the order has directed the MIB / DOT to look into the matter in accordance with law, we find no irregularity in providing these factual clarifications at this stage.”

Read the order here.

This article has been made possible because of financial support from Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation.