Anti-tobacco warnings now a must on OTT platforms

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has mandated anti-tobacco warnings for OTT platforms. According to the ministry’s notification, OTT platforms will now be required  to display anti-tobacco warnings and disclaimers. 

The notification states that online content displaying tobacco products or their use shall be required to do the following:

1. Display anti-tobacco health spots, of minimum thirty seconds duration each at the beginning and middle of the programme.

2. Display an anti-tobacco health warning as a prominent static message at the bottom of the screen during the period of display of the tobacco products or their use in the programme.

3. Display an audio-visual disclaimer on the ill-effects of tobacco use, of minimum twenty seconds duration each, in the beginning and middle of the programme.

These rules shall come into force on and after the expiration of three months from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette, says the mandate. The mandate was published on 31st May 2023. 

“ If the publisher of online curated content fails to comply with the provisions of sub-rules (1) to (5), an inter ministerial committee consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, shall take action suo motu or on a complaint, and after identifying the publisher of online curated content, issue notice giving reasonable opportunity to explain such failure and make appropriate modification in the content," the notification states.