The Government of India has put strict measures in place to combat the streaming of adult content by banning OTT services Ullu, ALTT (formerly known as ALTBalaji), Desiflix, Big Shots App, and over 20 other OTT services. As of July 23, a new directive issued by the MIB has compelled ISPs to provide countrywide access to these services and their Apps.
Reasons For The Ban
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting stated the goal of these measures as India’s OTT services which have been operational for many years and have been blatantly defying our laws and rules for digital content. These reasoning include,
- Bollywood provides and distributes morally and socially unacceptable and indecently vulgar content, much of which has been focused on open and prolonged sexual acts and nudity.
- As many ‘storytelling’ lacks any plot which is interesting to watch or have any meaningful social message, a large part of the content can, and has, been branded as ‘vulgar’ by the officials.
- As many shows denotes and portrays nudity and sexual acts in family settings, which is deeply objectionable, many Indian laws as well as the culture abhor such a blatant disregard for decency.
The MIB worked on these issues alongside the Ministries of Home Affairs, Women and Child Development, Electronics and IT, Department of Legal Affairs, FICCI, CII, and other specialists on women and children advocacy.
Cited Legal Provisions
The action undertaken by the Government of India stems from the following legal provisions:
- Section 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000: Prohibits the publishing of obscene and sexually explicit material on the internet.
- Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986: Indecent representation of women and the distribution of obscene material.
- Section 294 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: The newer provisions have included public obscenity.
Complementary Services
The following services are no longer available to users in India:
- ALTT (ALTBalaji)
- Ullu
- Desiflix
- Big Shots App
- Boomex
- Navarasa Lite
- Gulab App
- Kangan App
- Bull App
- Jalva App
- Wow Entertainment
- Look Entertainment
- Hitprime
- Feneo
- ShowX
- Sol Talkies
- Adda TV
- HotX VIP
- Hulchul App
- MoodX
- NeonX VIP
- Fugi
- Mojflix
- Triflicks
(and others)
Public Policy Considerations
This policy has come under fire from legislators, human rights activists, and even an April 2025 Supreme Court PIL for essentially ignoring digital indecency regulations and was leaning towards furthering bans on obscenity. Alongside that, the National Women’s Commission had also flagged the misogynistic illustration of women. The Supreme Court has shown concern, however, it has decided to leave it to the government to decide how to enforce it.
Effects on the Economy and Compliance
Indian legal scholars are claiming that each nation has its own laws to govern freedom of speech and expression. In the case of inter country media and especially internet based platforms, laws are requisite. For instance, the OTT platforms need to:
- Treat the issues of the content offered to the users with the utmost concern,
- Provide systems that deal with answering grievances, and
- Set up classification of the content to deal with systematic age categorization.
Not meeting content moderation expectations now leads to harsh legal action, including a completed ban of the service.
This sets a precedent for further action on regulating India’s digital streaming industry as the government’s attitude appears to be harsh towards content that is contrary to societal and legal expectations.
