Madras High Court Seeks Centre and State response on a plea to ban online movie reviews.
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Summary: The Tamil Film Active Producers Association filed a petition to forbid online film reviews for three days after their release.
To get a response to a petition to stop digital media platforms from reviewing new films online within the first three days of their release, the Madras High Court on Tuesday sent notice to YouTube, Google LLC, the Secretary of Tamil Nadu Information Technology and Digital Services, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and other authorities.
The Tamil Film Active Producers Association argued that bad reviews harm a movie's reputation and box office collections; thus, they asked for permission to ban reviews for the first three days. In the appeal, the association's general secretary, T Sivalingam, stated that reviews had a big impact on audience perception and market trends.
In his notice on the plea, Justice S. Sounthar stated verbally that reviews—even if they are critical of movies—are "part of the freedom of speech and expression" that cannot be restricted.
TFAPA requested that the Central and State governments establish rules that online cinema reviewers must stick to when posting reviews of recently released films on their social media accounts or YouTube channels.
The Association informed the Court that although critics are free to offer opinions on films, they must remember that hatred for a film should not spread through the media out of personal animosity.
They said that more YouTube channels were turning to harsh assessments, often with derogatory language, in an attempt to grow their viewership and subscriber count.
These reviews put the producers at a disadvantage when it comes to selling their films to television networks and over-the-top (OTT) platforms.
