India's Daughter becomes an internet rage

After committing to ensure a blanket ban on all platforms for the documentary, India’s Daughter, the Centre was left struggling on Thursday as copies of the film continued to circulate on the internet.

Twenty-four hours after Home Minister Rajnath Singh informed Parliament that the government had secured a court injunction banning the broadcast of the film, a YouTube link to the documentary got over one lakh views before it was removed.

However, new URLs (uniform resource locator) kept popping up even as the government raced to identify individual users who were uploading the film. As of 9 pm on Thursday, the film could still be viewed on YouTube. The court injunction, therefore, could apply only to television broadcasters. Intermediaries like YouTube are liable to act only if the government notifies them about specific URLs showing illegal content.

The blocking action is limited only to those specified links. Meanwhile, responding to a legal notice from Tihar authorities, the BBC said the documentary was filmed to gain an insight into the mindset of the criminal. “The remarks of the perpetrator are set among a number of other views, including those of the parents, ex-or present members of the judiciary, witnesses and personal testimonies,” it said.