House Panel To Push For Stricter Content Laws Amid YouTuber Row: Sources

In a sign that the row over YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia's remarks could have consequences for the regulation of content in India, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology is considering writing to the Centre to strengthen laws so that such controversies do not occur in the future, sources have said. 

The parliamentary panel is understood to be considering recommending that the laws around digital content be made stricter, the sources said on Thursday. 

After the controversy over Mr Allahbadia's inappropriate remarks, made on the YouTube show 'India's Got Latent', had broken out, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who is a member of the Standing Committee on IT, had said on Monday that she would raise the issue before the panel.

"I will be raising the issue regarding the show called India's Got Latent as a member in the standing committee of IT& Communication for the kind of vulgar, blasphemous content that is passed off as comedy. We need to set boundaries since these platforms influence young minds and they are passing off absolute rubbish as content. The language used by Ranveer Allahabadia (sic) which was also actively encouraged by others on that 'comedy panel' is unacceptable," Ms Chaturvedi had posted on X. 

Indicating that the issue had wider support, Naresh Mhaske, an MP from the opposing Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, had also said content creators are taking advantage of online platforms not being censored. 

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Mr Mhaske had said, "A specific norm should be framed against this. I am talking about this in the Parliament. Ranveer Allahbadia made wrong comments about mothers and fathers. They are trying to ruin our culture and tradition. In the name of democracy, they are making wrong remarks. There is no censor on OTT platforms." 

Mr Allahbadia, who is a podcaster better known as BeerBiceps and had over 16 million followers across social media platforms before the controversy broke out, had asked a contestant on comedian Samay Raina's show 'India's Got Latent': "Would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join in once and stop it forever."

The clip went viral, sparking condemnation and outrage. Mr Allahbadia then issued a video message apologising for his remarks. "My comment wasn't just inappropriate, it was not even funny. Comedy is not my forte, I am just here to say sorry," the Youtuber said. 

On questions about whether he intended to use his platform the way he had, Mr Allahbadia said, "Obviously this is not how I wish to use it. I am not going to give any context or justification or reasoning behind whatever happened. I am just here for an apology. I personally had a lapse in judgement. It wasn't cool on my part."

Samay Raina also deleted all episodes of 'India's Got Latent' after several complaints were filed. On Thursday, the comedian was summoned by the Maharashtra Cyber Cell for the second time but he responded saying he is in the US and sought more time to respond.