CHENNAI: A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking orders to the government to evolve a mechanism to regulate the functioning of YouTube in order to keep a check on the ‘unbridled display of objectionable content’ which affects the ‘peace and tranquillity in the society’.
“The lack of a mechanism to regulate YouTube content is affecting the peace and tranquillity of the general public,” the petitioner, advocate V Parthiban said, adding that such unrestricted videos paved the way for child abuse as explicit content is uploaded for monetary benefits.
YouTube is the prime abettor, providing a free platform for uncontrolled, uncensored posts and comments leading to unpleasant litigations, he alleged. He said it is shocking that there is no censoring of YouTube content before uploading, even if they are objectionable. By the time the web app decides to remove content, the damage might be already done. He prayed for the court to issue directions to the state government to devise a mechanism to regulate the streaming of videos on YouTube.
The matter came up for hearing before the first bench of Acting Chief Justices D Krishnakumar and Justice K Kumaresh Babu on Monday. Since the petitioner had not included the Union government as a respondent, the court adjourned the hearing, asking him to change the petition accordingly.