Reclaim the internet to empower, not exploit
May 5, 2025
The Supreme Court’s move on April 28, to examine obscenity regulations for OTT platforms and social media (in a PIL filed by Uday Mahurkar and others) is both urgent and necessary. However, the harm caused by each differs significantly: while OTT content typically involves willing actors and accountable creators, social media platforms enable the non-consensual sharing of images and videos of innocent individuals, often by anonymous or untraceable users who evade accountability.
This makes social media a far more potent tool for privacy violations and direct harm, frequently facilitating crimes against unsuspecting victims. In Varanasi, a 19-year-old woman was allegedly taken to a hotel by an accused who raped her and recorded a video. This video was then used as leverage; she was reportedly told to stay in the hotel, or the video would be circulated on social media. This threat allegedly led to her being subsequently gang-raped by 22 others over the course of a week. This is just one example of cases involving a terrifying modus operandi: perpetrators not only assault victims but also film the act and use the threat of sharing these videos on social media to silence them and evade legal consequences.
