Abstract

The emergence of Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, ALTBalaji, and MX Player has transformed the way content is consumed in India, especially among the youth. These digital media have enabled producers to circumvent traditional censorship mechanisms, leading to a wave of web series marked by overt nudity, obscene language, and gory violence. Though such series are mostly defended under the umbrella of creativity and realism, they also generate serious issues related to cultural deterioration, dilution of values, and normalizing anti-social tendencies. This article explores the socio-cultural implications of such shows on Indian society with a special reference to how such shows likely cannibalize conventional Indian values, religious feelings, gender dignity, and family systems.
Taking a qualitative, research-based approach, this work utilizes content analysis of representative Indian web series such as Sacred Games, Mirzapur, Paatal Lok, Ragini MMS Returns, and Gandii Baat. Leaning on media theory, cultural studies, and Indian sociology, the research unpacks the recurring themes, visual tropes, and linguistic turns in these series. Specific focus lies in the representation of violence, hypersexualization, and abuse as normalized, even commodified, aspects of storytelling. The research also places these trends within the larger discursive frame of India's changing digital legislation.
The article critically analyses the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and their operational limits in ruling over OTT content. It brings out the limitations of digital governance, the jurisdictional lacunae in enforcement, and the legal uncertainty that pervades the classification of 'obscene' or 'offensive' material. Based on court rulings, policy assessments, and academic writings—including those of Stuart Hall, Arvind Rajagopal, and Shakuntala Banaji—the study reveals a space where unaccountable creative liberty is facilitated by a regulatory vacuum with significant cultural implications.
The paper argues that the present trend of Indian web series has the potential to desacralize cultural heritage, warp socio-religious history, and perpetuate misogynist and violent patterns of behavior. It finishes by suggesting an equitable policy approach that safeguards creative freedom without compromising content accountability, cultural empathy, and psychological protection for audiences, particularly teenagers.

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