NCPCR sues Netflix for allowing minors to access sexually explicit content

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Summary

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has summoned officials of OTT platform Netflix for making “sexually explicit content” available to minors on its platform. The move came after the NCPCR found a violation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 due to the “unrestricted accessibility” of such content to minors.

The NCPCR has exercised its powers under Section 14 of the CPCR Act, 2005 and summoned representatives of Netflix, namely Monika Shergill, Vice President (Content), Netflix India, and Ambika Khurana, Head of Policy, to appear in person before the Commission on July 29, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.

The letter highlighted that the complaint filed by Save Culture Save Bharat Foundation accused Netflix of unlawfully showing content including: private body parts of men and women and explicit sexual acts between a man and a woman, two men, two women, a group of men, a group of women, a group of men and women (orgies), etc. The complaint also accused Netflix of showing extremely bizarre scenes, the content of which is highly unsuitable for young children. However, this content is easily accessible to minors on Netflix. The NCPCR stated in its letter “The unrestricted accessibility of explicit content on Netflix to minors has been found to be a violation of Section 11 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. This section states: ‘A person commits sexual molestation of a child if he or she shows any object in any form or on any medium to a child for pornographic purposes with sexual intent.'”

The children’s rights organization had already raised this issue with Netflix in June, but the streaming platform had not responded.

Notably, Netflix in India employs a comprehensive rating system to ensure that content is suitable for viewers of different age groups. The ratings are divided into three main categories: kids, teens and adults, each with specific subcategories. In addition, the platform also allows you to set an age rating for a profile.

Here’s how users can set an age rating for a profile on an Android phone or tablet, iPhone, or iPad:

1. Open the Netflix app.
2. Beat My Netflix in the lower right corner.
3. Tap the Menu in the upper right corner.
4. Beat Manage profiles.
5. Select the profile you want to edit.
6. Beat Display restrictions.
7. Beat Age rating.
8. Enter your Netflix account password.
9. Set the desired age rating.

However, apart from parental controls/user controls, there is no mechanism to prevent minors from viewing inappropriate content.