Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are in the news lately because of their content that portrays the reality of society. These platforms don’t put age restrictions for most of their content and have received flak from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), who is forcing them to set certain restrictions for children.
The NCPCR has always been there to put restrictions on our freedom of expression. Three months ago, it asked Netflix to take down Bombay Begums. A recent Netflix series, Bombay Begums depicts the story of five women striving for livelihood and managing upheavals. The NCPCR filed a complaint against Netflix to stop streaming this show because one of the scenes has a minor girl taking hard drugs. She is being taught how to become an adult and this is polluting young minds.
This has divided twitter into two. Here are a few reactions from the people:
Aravind Rajasekar tweeted, “So portraying and glorifying children like that is not supported! Then why do they support adults doing that in movies/films? Isn’t it children who are more influenced by adults?”
Sunny Samuel Mittra, another Twitter user, tweeted, “The web series is not for children, it’s written for 18+ and contains sex, substance, and hard language. Now, it’s up to viewers [to decide] if such content is for them or not, stop this policing in freedom of expression.”
In my opinion, however, the content’s depiction does not promote the use of drugs. The scene has been overwhelmed by its viewers and has raised the demand for censorship on the OTT platform this past year.
Gruelling with time, the nature of content production and its streaming on OTT platforms has changed. If a minor is shown snorting cocaine, it doesn’t mean it is influencing young ones to do so. Excluding content on the internet is not the solution to eliminate filth from society.