Madras High Court Has Refused To Ban New Movie Reviews In Social Media

The Madras High Court has refused to ban new movie reviews in social media for three days after the release of films.

Hyderabad:Negative reviews were published on social media about the recently released film 'Gangvaa' starring actor Suriya. In response to this, a case was filed in the Madras High Court on behalf of the Tamil Film Producers Association seeking a ban on publishing reviews for three days after the release of the film in theaters.

In it, the plea has requested that the central and state governments be ordered to formulate rules regarding publishing reviews on social media about newly released films. The petition contended that when big-budget films are released, the films fail due to negative reviews being published about them and that there is an unusual situation in the film industry.

When the petition came up for hearing before Justice Soundar, advocate Vijayan Subramanian appeared on behalf of the petitioner and said the criticism of newly released films on social media was changing the mindset of people who wanted to watch the film, and that defamation was being spread about the actors who acted in the film and director.

Following this, the judge said that a complaint could be filed with the police regarding defamation, but that since criticism is a freedom of expression, no order could be issued in general, and that the film industry, which accepts when some films receive good reviews, should accept negative reviews also.

Furthermore, the judge refused to ban the publication of reviews for three days after the release of the films, ordered the central and state governments and YouTube company to respond to the case within four weeks and adjourned the hearing.

The Tamil Nadu Producers Council had previously condemned the 'personal attacks' and 'incitement of hatred' that often accompanied critical reviews. In a detailed letter, they had asked journalists and critics to avoid sowing negativity out of 'personal malice.' The Council emphasised that while the right to critique films is essential, it should not come at the cost of tarnishing a film's reputation based on biases. They also demanded that YouTube reviewers be restricted from accessing theaters for First Day, First Show (FDFS) reviews to prevent the spread of early opinions.

This is not the first instance of the film industry attempting to limit post-release film criticism. In 2023, Kerala imposed a similar ban, prohibiting YouTube reviews for seven days after a film's release, following a petition by director Mubeen Rauf, who claimed that early negative reviews of his film Aromalinte Adyathe Pranayam had impacted its business.

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