NCPCR Chief summons Netflix over alleged access to explicit content by minors

New Delhi: National Commission for Protection of Child Rights chief Priyank Kanoongo has summoned Monika Shergil, Vice-President of Content, and Ambika Khurana, Policy Head at Netflix India, regarding allegations of explicit content being accessible to minors on the platform.

“The Commission had received a complaint from Uday Mahurkar of the Save Culture, Save Bharat Foundation. The complaint alleged that Netflix is unlawfully showcasing the most horrendous content, including the private parts of males and females and explicit sexual activity between a male and female, two males, two females, a group of males, group of females, group of males and females (orgies), etc,” stated the summons.

Furthermore, it also stated that the content is easily accessible to minors on Netflix. 

The summon further stated that the unrestricted accessibility of explicit content on Netflix to minors constitutes a violation of Section 11 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, which states that a person is said to commit sexual harassment upon a child when such person, with sexual intent, shows any object to a child in any form or media for pornographic purposes.

The Commission stated in the summons that it had previously sent a letter to Netflix on June 20, 2024, to take the necessary action. However, no action was taken. 

This has led to the Commission summoning the representatives of Netflix. 

As per Section 14 of the CPCR Act, 2005, the Commission has summoned Netflix to appear in person physically, along with the details of the action taken in this matter.

The streaming platform has been summoned to appear before the Commission in person on July 29 at 3 PM.

It remains unclear which specific shows or movies the complainant is referring to, as the platform offers a wide array of content from around the globe, accessible to millions of subscribers.