Government makes mandatory tobacco-linked health warnings on OTT platforms
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has made it mandatory for OTT platforms to show anti-tobacco spots and audio-visual disclaimers in the beginning and middle of programmes as well as show prominent static health warning at the bottom of the screen whenever a tobacco product appears on the screen. Similar rules are already mandatory for film theatres and films.
On World No Tobacco Day yesterday, the government made it mandatory for over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms to display tobacco-linked health warnings before and during the middle of the streamed content.
The regulation will come to force in three months, the notification by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
Such warnings are already displayed by film theatres during screenings.
“Efforts such as these are important as nearly 13.5 lakh deaths every year in the country can be linked in some way to tobacco consumption,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a No Tobacco event.
According to the notification:
All publishers of online curated content — other than news and current affairs content — will have to display a health spot for a minimum of 30 seconds in the beginning and middle of the programmes.
When a tobacco product appears on the screen, it will have to be accompanied with a prominent static health warning at the bottom of the screen.
All OTT platforms have to run an audio-visual disclaimer of a minimum of 20 seconds on the ill-effects of using tobacco, at the beginning and in the middle of programmes.
The health spots and the disclaimers will have to be in the same language as that of the content.
There should be no product or brand placement of tobacco products in the content or displaying of use of tobacco products in promotional material for content.
