• Tobacco use causes debilitating diseases such as cancer, lung disease, cardiovascular issues, and stroke, claiming a staggering 1.35 million lives annually in India.
• It burdens the nation''s economy, amounting to more than 1% of Gross Domestic Product (Global Adult Tobacco Survey India, 2016-17).
• The issues of smoking warnings for films and TV shows led to alarming visuals of cancers, and a sponge being squeezed representing tar accumulation in smokers’ lungs.
• A link has often been drawn between the health impact of smoking and how tobacco products are shown to the public.

Role of Anti-smoking warnings:

• The adequate information on health damages caused by smoking and relevant warnings should be communicated clearly to discourage people from smoking.
• Direct Role: Packaging of tobacco products, graphic warnings on its packets, etc.
• Indirect Role: Films and television have a huge influence on people, especially younger audiences.

Factors leading to tobacco control:

Increasing awareness on health aspects:

• Civil society efforts, growing global support for tobacco control, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in developing policies for effective action, etc. contributed to national consensus on tobacco control.

Legal and Judicial Provisions:  

• Cinematograph Act, 1952: Prohibited the “glamorization” of tobacco and smoking in movies.
• Cable Television Networks Amendment Act, 2000: Banned tobacco and alcohol advertising on cable TV.
• Cigarettes (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1975: Mandated specific statutory health warnings on cigarette packs.
• COPTA Act, 2003: Prohibited the sale of tobacco products in an area within 100 yards of any educational institution.
• COPTA stands for Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution).
• Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labeling) Rules, 2008: It prohibited smoking in public places and pictorial health warnings covering 85% of the principal display areas of tobacco products.
• It defined ‘Public areas’ and included certain exceptions.
• Judicial verdicts: Murli S. Deora v. Union of India (2001): Supreme Court recognized the issue of smoking in public places and its ill effects on passive smokers.
• It prohibited smoking in public places since 2001.

Role of Over-the-Top (OTP) platforms:

• OTT platforms are accessible content organizations over the internet for users using various devices anytime, either without any cost or after paying a subscription fee to a service provider.
• OTT is a nonlinear model which has become the most used entertainment medium in recent times.
• India has nearly 170 million OTT Platform customers and a viewership of 658 million in 2022.
• Young adults aged 18-24 spend nearly 39 minutes daily on these platforms.
• This is because of progress in innovation, internet services and favored utilization of small screens, phones, laptops, and tablets.
• Online games, video conferencing services, and OTT platforms and online meeting platforms experienced a boom during COVID-19 pandemic.
• Onscreen smoking often appears glamorous, inadvertently influencing children, young adults, and professionals to view tobacco use and vaping as fantastic habits.

Background of rules for entertainment industry:

• COPTA Act, 2003 stated that no individual or a character in cinema and television programmes shall display tobacco products or their use.
• The films and shows produced before the notification must add a health warning as a prominent scroll at the bottom of the screen, in scenes featuring smoking.
• But this ban led tobacco companies to take the indirect advertisement route of showing cigarettes in films that cater to massive audiences in India.
• Some filmmakers and actors argued that it violated their fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression (Article 19 (1)) and the Censor Board should be given the responsibility to check the glorification of such acts.
• Delhi High court (2009) and Supreme Court ruled that Right to health and life (Article 21) cannot be subservient to the rights of individuals conducting a business or profession for personal gains.
• OTT executives raised concerns that the rules could force editing of millions of hours of existing content, diminish customers’ experience, and impinge on creators’ freedom of expression.

Rules for entertainment industry:

• In 2011, a Health Ministry notification identified new rules on the topic, after consultations and taking into account the views of the I&B Ministry to make them more practical and implementable.
• Films and shows made prior to these rules were to have anti-tobacco health spots or messages screened at the beginning and middle of the television programme.
• These messages would be made available to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) by the Health Ministry.

Elements of Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products rules, 2023:

• A strong “editorial justification” explaining the necessity of the display of the tobacco products or their use in the film, given to the CBFC.
• Anti-tobacco health spots (minimum 30 seconds) at the beginning and middle of the films and TV programmes.
• An “anti-tobacco health warning as a prominent static message” was to be displayed at the bottom of the television screen when tobacco products were shown on screen.
• An audio-visual disclaimer on the ill effects of tobacco use (at least 20 seconds) in the beginning and middle of the film and TV programme.
• In case of non-compliance by theatre owners of broadcast organisations, a punishment including the suspension of their licenses can be awarded.

Challenges on Implementation:

• In the National Consultation on Tobacco-Free Films Policy (2017), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released a study conducted by a public health-focused organisation, with support from WHO India.
• It stated that 99% of movies with tobacco imagery implemented at least one element of the film rules while 27% implemented all three elements and only a few films obliged all elements.
• COTPA’s implementation lacked regards like restrictions on the sale of cigarettes near educational institutions.
• A 2020 study found that 85% of the surveyed schools violated Section 4 (on public smoking restrictions) and 69% violated Section 6b (prohibition of the sale of tobacco products near educational institutions).
• Existing library of content, foreign content, and inclusion of health spots in the middle of the content are not followed properly.
• Platforms can consider an appropriate health warning to be displayed when users log in.

Our collective moral duty is to educate the public about tobacco''s hazards. India can become a global exemplar in tobacco control efforts by regulating OTT platforms as meticulously as films and TV. This is a defining moment where we put human well-being first and embrace a future free from the shackles of tobacco addiction. Society can build a healthier, tobacco-free India that leads the world by example.