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Netflix Censoring Content Is Fake News; But Amazon Prime Is Censoring Content Since 2016

Vulgar shows on Netflix will be banned?

Yesterday evening, Netflix fans all over India were shocked and stunned when a prominent publication reported that they have agreed to censor their shows in India.

Massive social media protests erupted, as talks about freedom of expression and speech were being debated.

This news spread like wildfire, mainly because Delhi High Court is right now hearing a petition on banning vulgar content on Netflix, Amazon Prime and other OTTs.

However, as it turned out, that this news was fake.

Netflix: We Will Never Censor Content in India

As the news of Netflix agreeing to censor content spread, Netflix India had to come out, and assure all no such thing is happening.

As per the original report by The Print, there was a meeting between the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting officials and representatives from Netflix, 21st Century Fox, Intel Sat, AFNT India, Intel India, Google, Star TV India, Apple, and the US-India Business Council.

In the meeting, as per The Print, Netflix agreed to censor content in India.

Netflix has now denied this news.

As per a statement issued, Netflix said,  ”The information quoted is inaccurate and entirely false. Netflix was never in this meeting.”

In fact, right now, there exist no rules in India regarding censoring online content, and Delhi High Court has asked Govt. to share their feedback/opinions on this matter.

The next hearing on this case is in the month of February.

But Can Netflix Censor Content?

The pressure on Netflix to censor content is building up, not only in India, but in the US as well.

The Parents Television Council, a censoring advisory group in the US has filed a petition to force Netflix for censoring content. Such requests and demands have come from some groups in Europe as well.

But till now, Netflix has refused to censor any content, and they have maintained this stand all over the world.

Amazon Prime Is Censoring Content in India

At the same time, Amazon Prime Video has imposed a self-made censorship rule in India.

Explicit sexual scenes, frontal nudity and in some cases cuss words have been blurred by Amazon Prime in India, which is not the case in the US.

In 2016, when The Quint asked Amazon Prime on censoring their content in India, they had said, “We respect our customers’ preferences and will comply with the regulations applicable to our service. Amazon is a responsible company and we are here to entertain the Indian customer with award-winning content from the US along with blockbusters from Indian and regional makers.  We will keep Indian cultural sensitivities in mind while offering this content to customers.”

This self-imposed censorship by Amazon has been on since 2016. Hence, the pressure on censorship is more on Netflix, rather than Amazon Prime in India.

We will keep you updated, as we receive more news on this matter.

Mohul Ghosh: Mohul keenly observes the nuances of Indian startup world; and tries to demystify the secrets behind Technology, Marketing, Mobile and Internet. He is a Writer by passion, Marketer by choice and Entrepreneur by compulsion. Follow him on Twitter here: @_mohul
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