India: Hotstar forgoes airing John Oliver’s Commentary on the Prime Minister

Zainab Chhatriwala • Apr 23, 2020

Censorship in media has long been a sensitive matter in India. This is especially true for political topics. Recently, India witnessed countrywide unrest triggered by passing a controversial citizenship law aiming to grant citizenship based on religion. The Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA has people in India divided over its constitutionality and apparent violation of the country’s secular foundation.

British-American comedian John Oliver expressed his own views of Indian current affairs on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight.” With US President Donald Trump making his first trip to India amid the prevailing unrest, John did not hold back in his criticism of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In addition to Oliver’s comments on how the CAA and the proposed National Register of Citizen (NRC) would negatively affect millions of Indians, he also discussed Narendra Modi’s popularity and Donald Trump’s seeming fondness for him. The comedian spoke of the persecution of minorities, especially Muslims, under the Modi Government. Subsequently, John Oliver started trending on Twitter with numerous tweets asking people to watch and share the Modi episode.

However, not everyone was pleased. Disney-owned streaming platform, Hotstar, did not release the Modi episode in India. It was expected to be available February 25, 2020 and Hotstar did not comment on why it was not aired. The episode is available on “Last Week Tonight” YouTube page and has over 7 million views.

This self-censorship by Hotstar has been condemned in the expanding public conversation on freedom of speech and awareness of restrictions over OTT platforms. Conversely, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, which oversees regulation of information, broadcasts, movies and the press in India, has denied any governmental involvement in any censorship talks .

Speculation is some OTT platforms are increasingly cautious with content in India to avoid government ire and to protect high public sentiment on the content currently available.

In 2019 numerous objections were raised over certain narratives in OTT entertainment. Among those caught in the crossfire was Netflix India original “ Leila .” Many called the show anti-Hindu and demanded it banned. “ Sacred Games ,” another Netflix India original had a FIR filed against it for a controversial mention of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi in 2018

As for “Last Week Tonight” and Hotstar’s silence over the Modi episode, it is safe to assume that prudence prevails.

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