Supreme Court To Examine If Onscreen Profanity Amounts To A ‘Sexually Explicit Act’

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(Source: The Hindu, 09/27/2023)

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Why in the news?

• Recently, the Supreme Court of India agreed to examine if the use of profanity onscreen amounts to a “sexually explicit act” under Section 67A of the IT Act.
• The Delhi High Court had in March, found that the language used in the College Romance web series was profane and vulgar and warned that it could negatively impact the country’s youth.

What has the Judiciary said about the use of profanity in online content?

• Supreme Court: The SC has agreed to examine if the use of profanity and vulgar language amounts to a sexually explicit act under Section 67A of the IT Act.
  • It will consider whether the term “act” under Section 67A includes spoken words as well.
  • The SC cast doubt on the argument put forward by the makers of the web series that vulgar language is not a case of obscenity.
  • They also argued that the offense under Section 67A is not made out as there was no depiction of a sexually explicit physical act on screen.
  • However, the SC noted that the Delhi HC had ruled that Section 67A also applied to spoken words.
• Delhi HC: The Delhi High Court had ruled that the content used in the web series streamed over an OTT platform was vulgar and profane.
  • The HC also raised the charge of Section 67 of the IT Act against the producers and actor despite the charge being dropped by the Sessions Court.
  • It ruled that profanities cannot be presented to the general public or portrayed to the world as if commonly practiced by the youth of the country.
  • Unrestricted, unfettered freedom of profane, indecent, and obscene speech and expression could not be permitted in web series.
  • The Court flagged the power and reach of online platforms on all age categories including young children.

Union government’s stance

• The Union Government had told the Delhi High Court that it consider its recommendations during its regular policy-making exercises for the techno-legal ecosystem.
• In July 2023, the Union government told streaming giants Netflix and Disney that the content on their platforms must be reviewed independently for obscenity and violence before being aired.

Other laws related to vulgarity

IPC

• Section 292 of the IPC which is related to the sale, etc of obscene books, etc.
• Section 294 which is related to obscene acts and songs.
• Section 504 of IPC which seeks to prevent the intentional use of abusive language amounts to insult, giving rise to provocations causing the person against whom such words are used to commit a breach of peace.

IT Act, 2000

• Section 69(A) of the IT Act gives the government takedown powers to block public access to an intermediary “in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offense relating to above”.

IT Rules, 2021

• Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code), Rules 2021 which sought to regulate intermediaries and digital news media.
• It stipulates that a classification or warning must be provided regarding the profanity of language or excessive use of expletives.

Cinematograph Act

The Cinematograph Act, of 1952 deals with the censorship of movies in India with respect to certain rules and regulations established by law in order to make the content suitable for the target audience.

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FAQs

MCQs

Question: Consider the following statements.

1. Section 67A of the IT Act outlines the punishment for transmitting material consisting of sexually explicit material in electronic form.
2. Section 69A of the IT Act was used by the government to ban certain Chinese apps.

Which of the above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) None of the above