A letter seen by Reuters from an Indian organization representing Netflix, Amazon, and Disney informed the government its new cigarette warning requirements are impractical to apply for streaming giants and will restrict content creators’ freedom of speech.
The Indian health ministry ordered streaming companies to embed static health warnings during smoking scenes within three months last month as part of its anti-tobacco campaign. At the opening and middle of each program, India requires at least 50 seconds of anti-tobacco disclaimers, including an audio-visual.
The three companies and Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s streaming platform JioCinema was recently in a private discussion to consider pushback options, including a legal challenge, as executives worried that the rules would require editing millions of hours of Indian and Hollywood content.
The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) statement claimed that “multilingual content on platforms is very high… there is a practical impossibility associated with including such warnings across content.”
A poll showed viewers were indifferent to smoking depictions on streaming platforms. Thus IAMAI asked the health ministry to reconsider the “onerous” laws.
Netflix declined to comment, while IAMAI and others did not immediately reply. The health ministry didn’t answer either.
Beyond Hollywood entertainment, streaming businesses Netflix (NFLX.O), Amazon (AMZN.O), Disney (DIS.N), and JioCinema are growing in popularity in India. Bollywood actors smoke in popular Hindi material on such platforms.
Activists applauded India’s new laws in a country where tobacco kills 1.3 million people annually.
According to IAMAI, content descriptors, which warn consumers of “smoking” in a video’s title, are more successful.
The association said warnings caused “disruptions” that were “problematic for creators that put in considerable investments.”
Health warnings are required for smoking and alcohol-drinking scenes in Indian film and TV, but streaming giants are unregulated.
After learning that statutory anti-tobacco warnings would be added to Blue Jasmine’s smoking sequences, Woody Allen pulled the movie from Indian theaters in 2013.
The non-profit Sambandh Health Foundation’s Sanjay Seth said cinema and digital platforms should discourage smoking similarly. “This must be done. Seth stated it would save lives.
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