The top court said that there is nothing in the rules to control the inappropriate content on these platforms and without legislation it may not be possible to control it.

A perusal of the Rules indicate that the Rules are more and more in the form of guidelines and have no effective mechanism for either screening or taking appropriate action for those who violate the guidelines, the bench said in its order.

“We are of the view there should be some screening of these types (of content). What they are showing? They are showing pornography also,” Supreme Court Justice Ashok Bhushan said.

Traditional film viewing in India, home to the thriving Bollywood industry, has changed as fewer people go to cinema halls and web series have become common, Bhushan said.