Madras HC refuses to put curbs on reviewing films within three days of release

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court refused to grant any interim order restraining individuals or social media channels from reviewing films within three days from their theatrical release and issued notice to Google LLC in this regard.

Justice S Sounthar heard the petition moved by the Tamil Film Active Producers Association (TFAPA) seeking to restrain online film reviewers as the reviews influence the audience negatively.

Wondering how the court can restrict the freedom of expression, the judge said, "Reviewers are entitled to review any film, it is their opinion".

Advocate Vijayan Subramanian for TFAPA submitted that under the guise of reviews, some individuals defame the film director, actors and producers, and hence should be restricted. It also sought to issue directions to the city police commissioner to restrict the YouTube channels from entering any cinema theatres for review purposes.

However, the judge refused to give any blanket order or directions in this regard and issued notice to the Union and state governments and YouTube. The matter was posted after four weeks for further proceedings.

The association contended that since there is no regulation or self-discipline on social media platforms, it leads to anyone and everyone making wild allegations and blemishing the reputation of any person and their creation. One of the most concerning phenomena in this new digital era is the negative review or "review bombing" that involves coordinated efforts to manipulate the ratings and reviews of a film, often motivated by reasons unrelated to the actual quality of the film, said TFAPA.

With a malafide intention from past enmity, some business rivals form a group to spread negative reviews against a particular film within a few hours of its release through various digital media, mainly on YouTube. Before even the common audience could watch the film and form their own opinion, this group of reviewers indulged in negative reviews bombing the digital media, leading to biased opinions on a film before the audience watched the film, reads the petition.

These new developments in the digital era have raised concerns among producers, directors, actors, and other stakeholders involved in the production and distribution of films about the business of filmmaking as the negative reviews pull down the film collections, added TFAPA.