Streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon, Disney and JioCinema have protested against new tobacco warning rules imposed by the Indian government, describing them as “onerous” and impractical to implement. The country’s health ministry ordered streaming services to insert static health warnings during smoking scenes within three months, and demanded that at least 50 seconds of anti-tobacco disclaimers, including an audio-visual, be shown at the start and middle of each programme.
Challenges for Streaming Platforms
Executives from the four streaming platforms have expressed concern that the rules would require the editing of millions of hours of Indian and Hollywood content, and have suggested a legal challenge. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has written to the health ministry, stating that there are significant challenges to including such warnings across content, particularly as there is a large amount of multilingual content on the platforms. The IAMAI also argued that a survey showed viewers were indifferent to depictions of smoking on streaming platforms, and that content descriptors, which warn users with a label “smoking” in a video alongside its title at the start, were more effective.
Impact on Content Creators
The IAMAI also stated that the disruptions caused by warnings were “problematic for creators that put in considerable investments.” The new rules were welcomed by activists, however, who argued that they would discourage smoking in a country where tobacco kills 1.3 million people each year. Sanjay Seth of the non-profit Sambandh Health Foundation stated that there should be no difference in how smoking is discouraged in cinema and on digital platforms.
The streaming platforms have become increasingly popular in India, with popular Hindi content featuring Bollywood actors often including smoking scenes. The new rules apply to all smoking and alcohol drinking scenes in movies in India’s cinemas and on TV, but until now there were no regulations for the streaming giants. In 2013, Woody Allen refused permission for his film Blue Jasmine to be screened in India after learning that mandatory anti-tobacco warnings would be inserted into its smoking scenes.
The streaming platforms and Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s streaming platform JioCinema were recently part of a privately held discussion to consider pushback options, including a legal challenge. Netflix declined to comment, while IAMAI and the other companies did not immediately respond. The health ministry also did not respond.
The new tobacco warning rules imposed by the Indian government have met with resistance from streaming platforms, who argue that they are impractical to implement and impinge on content creators’ freedom of expression. While activists have welcomed the rules as a way of discouraging smoking, the streaming platforms argue that content descriptors would be more effective, and have suggested a legal challenge.
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