Madras High Court Directs MEITY To Remove Teaser Of “Bad Girl” Film From YouTube Citing Obscenity, Says May Affect Childrens' Minds

Justice P Dhanabal on going through the content, opined that it could affect the minds of teenage children who will be able to access the content easily as it had been posted on the internet.

The court also highlighted that the State had a duty to protect the children, whose minds may be spoiled on coming across the content. Thus, the court observed that the content could not be allowed to continue and had to be removed.

“The pictures hosted in the YouTube can be accessed by anybody and there are no restriction to the children to access and to see the said pictures. If the children see the said contents of the videos, certainly it will spoil the mind of the children. It is the duty of the State to protect the children in all respect. It is the social responsibility of every citizen to protect the children. Without social responsibility, the said obscene pictures have been uploaded in the social media. Therefore, it cannot be allowed to continue. As long as it is in existence and visible to children, the number of victims may be increased. Therefore, it should be removed immediately,” the court said.

Though YouTube was not impleaded as a party to the case, the court noted that it could not wait till such impleadment since the issue was serious in nature. Further, since the MEITY was a competent authority, the court noted that it could issue notice to YouTube and take appropriate action to remove the obscene content and videos. Though criminal action was also sought, the court said that no particulars had been provided. The court thus asked the petitioner to approach the appropriate authorities.

The court was hearing a petition filed by three individuals seeking directions to MEITY to direct Google to take down the teaser of “Bad Girl” movie from its online platforms, including YouTube, and to direct the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the National Commission for Women to take appropriate action.

The petitioners had argued that the teaser of the movie contained explicit content and warranted immediate legal action. It was also submitted that, though online complaints were raised with the Ministry, there was no action. The petitioners submitted that the obscene content was violative of the POCSO Act and the Information Technology Act.

The authorities, on the other hand, submitted that they had no record about the representation, and it any complaint was received, they would take appropriate steps in accordance with law. Opposing the plea, Google submitted that it had no role in this regard and also pointed out that the petitioner should have impleaded YouTube.

The court, on going through the contents produced by the petitioners opined that it should be removed from YouTube. The court also asked the Commissions to look into the matter and take appropriate steps in accordance with law to prevent explicit content.

It may also be noted that the High Court had previously dismissed a petition asking CBFC not to certify the movie.

Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr.Anandhapadmanabhan and Mr.B.Lenin Balu for M/s.Agam Legal

Counsel for the Respondent: Mr.K.Govindarajan Deputy Solicitor General, Mr.M.Sakthi Kumar Additional Public Prosecutor, Mr.G.Manoj Kumar

Case Title: R Ramkumar and Others v. The Union of India and Others

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 249

Case No: Writ Petition (MD)No.5562 of 2025