India Demands Netflix Remove Popular Series Saying It Will 'Pollute the Young Minds'

An agency in the Indian government tasked with protecting children's rights has asked Netflix to [...]

By Michael Hein

An agency in the Indian government tasked with protecting children's rights has asked Netflix to stop streaming its new series Bombay Begums immediately. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) said that it received complaints about the show depicting children consuming drugs. After a review, it determined that the material was not suitable for young Indian audiences.

"The series with this type of content will not only pollute the young minds of children, and may also result in abuse and exploitation of children," the NCPCR's complain said, according to a report by Reuters. So far, Netflix has not commented publicly on the controversy or the request. The series, Bombay Begums, is about five women from different parts of Indian society trying to make their way in modern-day Mumbai — the city formerly called Bombay.

Bombay Begums premiered on Monday, March 8 on Netflix, and at the time of this writing, it is still streaming in the U.S. The drama was written and directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and features an all-star cast in India. So far, what reviews there are have been lukewarm, and complaints that the NCPCR refers to have been scattered.

The NCPCR's complaint indicated one tweet in particular, where a user objected to "minors having cocaine" in the series. However, according to Reuters, the Indian government has been quick to come down on streaming services for material that could be construed as offensive. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and others have received notices from that government for content that might promote obscenity or hurt religious sentiment.

Industry executives have argued that these complaints violate freedom of speech and freedom of expression in India, though the cases vary wildly. For example, last year the government considered objections against Netflix's series A Suitable Boy, which was specifically concerned with a scene where a Hindu girl kisses a Muslim boy with a Hindu temple in the backdrop. Whether this was within the government's right to step in was hard to say.

Cases like this are also hard to compare to each other since they are so often different in scope and context. However, so far it seems like Netflix users in India are generally in favor of Bombay Begums and against the complaints. The show is still trending on Twitter in India at the time of this writing.

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