The government has asked Twitter and YouTube to remove deo ads that make rape jokes
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry asked Twitter and YouTube on Saturday to remove advertisements for a deodorant brand that appeared to trivialise sexual violence.
The self-regulatory body for the advertising industry, too, found the Layer’r Shot ad to be in violation of its guidelines and ordered the company to stop running it. The ads violated the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, according to a letter sent by the ministry to Twitter and YouTube on Saturday.
“Some videos that appear to be a company advertisement and are being posted by several users on the intermediary platform Twitter,” it said. The commercials had sparked outrage online, with several people pointing out rape jokes. One video has been “viewed close to a million times and also shared on other social media platforms,” according to the government’s email to YouTube.
In accordance with the Cable Television Network Rules 1994, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), the industry’s self-regulatory body, establishes a code for self-regulation in television advertising. According to the ministry, ASCI “has also found the video to be in violation of its guidelines…. (and) has notified the advertiser to immediately suspend the ad.”
“The ad is in serious breach of the ASCI Code and is against public interest,” ASCI said after viewers referred one of the ads to it on Twitter on Friday. We took immediate action and notified the advertiser that the ad would be suspended pending an investigation.”
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