FOR MINORS: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has summoned officials of OTT platform Netflix over allegations of making “sexually explicit content” available to minors on its platform. The move comes after the NCPCR cited violation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 due to “unrestricted access” of such content to minors. The NCPCR, exercising its powers under Section 14 of the CPCR Act, 2005, has required representatives of Netflix, namely Netflix India Vice President (Content) Monika Shergill and Policy Head Ambika Khurana, to appear in person before the Commission on July 29, 2024 at 3 pm. The letter highlights that the complaint filed by Save Culture Save Bharat Foundation has accused Netflix of illegally displaying content including “private parts of men and women and explicit sexual activity between a man and woman, two men, two women, a group of men, a group of women, a group of men and women (orgy)”.
The complaint also accuses Netflix of displaying extremely grotesque scenes showing content that is highly inappropriate for young children. However, this content is easily available to minors on Netflix. The NCPCR in its letter said, “It is observed that unrestricted access of explicit content for minors on Netflix is in violation of Section 11 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. This section stipulates that ‘a person is said to commit sexual assault on a child when such person shows any object for pornographic purposes to a child in any form or media with sexual intent.'” The child rights body had previously addressed the issue with Netflix in June, but did not receive any response from the streaming platform. Notably, Netflix uses a comprehensive rating system in India to ensure that content is suitable for audiences of different ages. The ratings are divided into three main categories: children, teens, and adults, each with specific sub-categories. In addition, the platform also allows setting the maturity rating level for the profile.
This is how users can set the maturity rating level for a profile on an Android phone or tablet, iPhone or iPad:
- Open the Netflix app.
- Tap My Netflix in the bottom right corner.
- Tap Menu in the top right corner.
- Tap Manage Profiles.
- Select the profile you want to edit.
- Tap Viewing Restrictions.
- Tap Maturity Rating.
- Enter your Netflix account password.
- Set the desired maturity rating level.
However, apart from parental/user controls, there is no mechanism to prevent minors from viewing inappropriate content.
