Is Netflix coming under knife of censorship in India? Streaming service denies

While Sacred Games on Netflix was highly talked about for its sexually explicit scenes and cuss words, the season 2 of the show might turn quite "sanskari" as the platform has reportedly agreed to censor its content for the Indian audience. However, Netflix denied any such development.

After a meeting with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Netflix has agreed to introduce "self-regulation" and adopt the "best practice internationally" for its content in India, according to The Print. Not just Netflix, even Hotstar has reportedly agreed to censorship policy. Amazon Prime had already agreed to it.

"Yes, there was discussion of self-regulation and Netflix and Hotstar agreed that they should regulate their content," The Print quoted a top ministry official as saying. However, Netflix soon issued a statement stating the report to be false.

"The information quoted is inaccurate and entirely false. Netflix was never in this meeting," stated the statement.

While television and films in India have been under self-regulatory agreement for a long time, OTT (Over-the-top) platforms like Netflix were free of any kind of censorship so far. 

Having been free of any censorship, Sacred Games included a lot of frontal nudity and explicit dialogues.

Meanwhile, this report of self-regulation on Netflix did not go down well with many. People who were happy to have access to censorship-free content on the platform, are highly disappointed with this speculation. Some even stated that they would unsubscribe the channel. Nonetheless, they can take a sigh of relief with Netflix denying the rumour.

"I wonder why people in India take pride in moral policing. They must know that internet is a personal choice. You can't censor these streaming portals," tweeted one person.

"Dear Justice for rights NGO, who the heck gave you the right to decide or censor what I watch on Netflix or Amazon. You don't want to watch, don't freaking watch it," another Twitter user said.

"@NetflixIndia Request you to clarify if the below report is true—have you really lowered your standards, and decided to let your audience down by giving in to censorship?" another disappointed fan said.

Earlier, an NGO had filed a petition at the Delhi High Court, demanding censorship of content from such streaming platforms, accusing them of broadcasting "vulgar and pornographic" content.