The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has rightly written to Twitter and YouTube to remove video advertisements of a deodorant brand for their alleged obscene content. It has come to the notice of the ministry that an inappropriate and derogatory advertisement of a deodorant is circulating on social media. The Ministry has asked Twitter and YouTube to immediately pull down all instances of this advertisement, the ministry tweeted, attaching the email it has sent to the platforms. Also, the TV channel on which it appeared has already pulled it down on directions of the broadcasting ministry. The move by the ministry came after the advertising body Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) found the advertisements going against the existing codes. The ministry found that the ads violate the Rule 3(1)(b)(ii) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, and are detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency or morality.
The video has been watched around a million times and has been shared in other social media platforms, the ministry said in the email to the platforms. The ad is in serious breach of the ASCI Code and is against public interest. We have taken immediate action and notified the advertiser to suspend the ad, pending investigation, the email said.