Comedian Samay Raina’s now-cancelled show India’s Got Latent has been making the headlines for more than a week now. The show and its guests along with the host found themselves in trouble after YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia asked an offensive “Would You Rather” question to a contestant. He had asked, “Would you rather watch your parents have s#x for the rest of your life, or would you join in once and stop it forever?” As he asked the question, Samay and Apoorva Mukhija, also known as The Rebel Kid, were captured laughing it off.
Amid multiple FIR’s and complaints being filed against the content creators, on Wednesday, the Centre issued an advisory for OTT platforms and social media channels. They were asked to adhere to the Indian Laws and the Code of Ethics that are mentioned in the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media, Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
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As reported by the Free Press Journal, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had received complaints about “alleged spread of obscene, pornographic and vulgar content published by certain publishers of online curated content (OTT platforms) and Social Media.” In their notification they mentioned, “In this regard it is stated that Part-IIl of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media, Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, interalia, provide for a Code of Ethics for OTT platforms, and a three level institutional mechanism for redressal of grievances relating to violation of the Code of Ethics.”
The Ministry stated that it requires OTT platforms to not transmit any content which is prohibited by the law. It urged them to undertake age-based classification of content. The media publication also suggested that the social media platforms should implement an access control mechanism for content which is rated A, so as to restrict access of the content by a child. Quoted by the media publication, addressing the OTT platforms, the ministry mentioned, “the Rules provide that the Self-regulatory Bodies of OTT platforms shall oversee and ensure the alignment and adherence by the OTT platforms to the Code of Ethics.”
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“Attention is also invited to the provisions of Indecent Representation of Women Act, 1986, Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), 2023, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSQ) Act, and Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 wherein publication of obscene/pornographic content is a punishable offence,” the notification further read.
On the other hand, Maharashtra Cyber Cell had also registered an FIR against Samay, Ranveer, Apoorva and others for promoting obscenity and vulgarity online through the former’s stand up show India’s Got Latent. The content creators had come under fire after they made disrespectful, obscene comments and used vulgar language on the show, which caused an uproar on social media.
After maintaining silence over the entire controversy, when it seemed like things wouldn’t settle for a long time, Samay Raina took to his X (formerly known as Twitter) handle to inform his fans that he has deleted all India’s Got Latent episodes from his YouTube channel. Sharing his side of the story, the comedian added that his only objective was to make the audience laugh and make sure that they had a good time. “I will fully cooperate with all agencies to ensure their inquiries are concluded fairly. Thank you,” he concluded.