Netflix, Amazon Prime and other OTT platforms to show tobacco health warnings, notifies Health Ministry

It will be mandatory for OTT platforms to show anti-tobacco warnings, as are seen in movies screened in theatres and TV programs, announced the Union Health Ministry in its latest notice on Wednesday.

After discussing with Information and Broadcasting Ministry and other stakeholders, Union Health Ministry laid out new rules for anti-tobacco warnings on OTT platforms.

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“If the publisher of online content fails to comply with new rules, the Union Health Ministry and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will take strict action,” said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in a statement.

The ministry notified the amended rules under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2004. Under this amendment rules under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2022 made it mandatory for OTT platforms to show anti-tobacco warnings.

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Makers of Over the Top content for platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hotstar, will need to mandatory show anti-tobacco health spots each of a minimum of 30 seconds at the beginning and middle of the program.

They shall also be required to exhibit an anti-tobacco health warning as a prominent static message at the bottom of the screen when tobacco products or their use are displayed during the program.

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Other than these warnings, an audio-visual disclaimer of a minimum duration of 20 seconds will also be needed to be displayed. This disclaimer will be displayed at the beginning and middle of the program, reported ANI citing sources.

"The anti-tobacco health warning message as specified in clause(b) of sub-rule (1) shall be legible and readable, with font in black colour on a white background and with the warnings 'Tobacco causes cancer' or 'Tobacco kills'," the notification stated.

Guidelines on the language of messages and display of Tobacco brands

Talking about the language of these messages and warnings, anti-tobacco health warning messages, health spots, and audio-visual disclaimers need to be in the same language as used in the content. The new guidelines also prohibit the makers to display the brands of cigarettes or other tobacco products.

"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 the such failure and make appropriate modification in the content," the notification said.

It is worth noting that the expression ‘online curated content’ denotes any curated catalogue of audio-visual content, other than news and current affairs content.