Guwahati: Public Health Organizations, schools students, teachers, and parents of Assam have to urge the Government of India to act against tobacco advertising and glamorization of tobacco use in OTT platforms, in order to protect the children from exposure to tobacco products display on these OTT platforms.
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), “Tobacco imagery in on-demand streaming content popular among adolescents and young adults in India: implications for global tobacco control” revealed that OTT platforms are flouting Government of India regulations on exposure to tobacco imagery.
The study assessed tobacco depictions in ten television series available via on-demand streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Hotstar, Amazon Prime, and many others. Incidents of tobacco use and tobacco brands in each series were counted and compliance with Indian Laws was recorded.
The BMJ study revealed that there is a rampant depiction of tobacco use and tobacco brand placement. The shows with tobacco depictions included both foreign-produced and Indian-produced series and most were rated for viewers below 18 years, thus targeting youth and children. Many of the series showed tobacco brands as well as close-ups of tobacco products and tobacco usage. None of the series included anti-tobacco static warning messages, anti-tobacco health spots, or audiovisual disclaimers about the ill effects of tobacco use.
The implementing guidelines for Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recommend that Parties should prohibit the use of tobacco brands or imagery in entertainment media and require anti-tobacco advertisements. India is a global leader in meeting these requirements of the WHO FCTC.
Section 5 of India’s Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) imposes a complete ban on tobacco advertising and promotion in any form of media. Section 5 of COTPA is blatantly being violated in the OTT platforms.
The 2012 Rules notified under COTPA in pursuance of the prohibition on tobacco advertising – require a broadcaster of television programs to display anti-tobacco disclaimers, spots, and messages in all films and television programs depicting tobacco products or their use.
The BMJ study is limited to ten television series but it provides conclusive evidence that the streaming services are completely disregarding India’s high standards for restricting and containing tobacco depictions in the media. It is even the case that movies with tobacco depictions that include the appropriate anti-tobacco disclaimers, spots, and messages when shown in cinemas or on cable networks, are made available on the streaming platforms without the anti-tobacco messages.
This is of particular concern because on-demand streaming platforms are becoming increasingly popular in India, especially with young viewers. A 2019 study by KPMG reported that there were 325 million viewers of on-demand streaming platforms in India and that young people (age 15-24) spent an average of 70 minutes per day watching online video content.
According to sources, MoHFW has recently sent a letter to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology highlighting that the tobacco film rules are applicable on OTT platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar as well and strict action may kindly be taken for prohibiting the depiction of tobacco use through streaming media in connection with the extant provisions under COTPA, 2003.
Public Health Experts said “The streaming media has become a haven for promotion of tobacco use and this extensive promotion is to undermine Government film rules and provisions discourage tobacco use. We urged the Government to take necessary action to ensure these online streaming platforms are compliant with COTPA, relevant rules, and any other applicable laws in order to protect the children from exposure to tobacco products display on the OTT platforms”.
A study conducted in New Delhi showed that adolescents aged 12–16 years with high exposure to tobacco occurrences in Bollywood films were 2.3 times more likely to have ever used tobacco compared with adolescents with low exposure.
According to the Teacher & Parent community of Assam “It is shocking to see the glamorization of tobacco use in these OTT platforms. It is well established that exposure to tobacco imagery in the media increases the likelihood of tobacco uptake in adolescents and young adults and that this relationship is causal”.
Another study conducted by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India revealed that 76% of Indian movies had tobacco use shown in them and 52.2% of children in India had their first smoke were influenced by tobacco use depicted in movies.
As per the GATS data, the Government of India 14.6% of 13–15-year-old students in India uses tobacco. As many as 11% of all male students surveyed were found to be users of smoking or smokeless tobacco, while 6% of female students used smokeless tobacco, and 3.7% smoked tobacco.
According to the MoHFW, nearly 37% of children in India initiate smoking before the age of 10, and, each day, 5500 children begin tobacco use and consequently may become addicted.