Govt asks Twitter, YouTube to pull down perfume advertisement

The I&B Ministry on Saturday asked Twitter and YouTube to remove from their social media platforms the videos of advertisement of a perfume brand that triggered outrage for "promoting sexual violence against women".

In letters to Twitter and YouTube, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that the videos were "detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency and morality" and in violation of Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code).

The videos of the perfume brand sparked outrage among a large section of social media users, who claimed the advertisement sought to promote sexual violence against women.

"It has come to the notice of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting that an inappropriate and derogatory advertisement of a deodorant is circulating on social media. The Ministry has asked Twitter and YouTube to immediately pull down all instances of this advertisement," an official spokesperson said.

The ministry, in the letters to Twitter and YouTube, said that the Advertisement Standards Council of India (ASCI) too has found the videos in violation of its guidelines and asked the advertiser to suspend the advertisement on an immediate basis.