Plea in Delhi HC seeking ban all non-film songs on internet with obscene content

By Sushil Batra
New Delhi [India], April 7 (ANI): A petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking direction to constitute a body to screen and ban all non-film songs available on the internet having obscene/vulgar content with immediate effect.
The petition also seeks direction to constitute a regulatory authority/censor board to censor/review the non-film songs, their lyrics and videos which are made available to the general public through various media platforms like Television, YouTube, etc and make it mandatory for composers of non-film songs to receive certification before such songs are made available in the public domain.
The bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh on Wednesday issued notice to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and slated the matter for further hearing on May 17.
The petitioners --- practising lawyers Neha Kapoor and Mohit Bhadu -- stated that if such content is not regulated, the same would tantamount to a regressive approach when our country is still striving towards gender equality and not objectifying women and giving them a safe environment to live.
They further stated that such non-film songs appear to instigate people to misbehave with women, objectify them and promote drug/alcohol abuse apart from other crimes which are clearly evident from their lyrics and the same will have an impact on society at large, especially the youth, as they are exposed to it and are most vulnerable to the same in their tender age of learning.
"There is an immediate requirement of a regulatory authority and censor board to censor and review non-film songs, their lyrics and music video being played on various platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Gaana.com, Instagram etc for public listening and viewing which are being shared in the society without any restrictions as such unregulated content has an adverse effect on the public, especially the youth, to instigate them to objectify and embarrass women and are against women rights to a free and fair society," plea read. (ANI)