'Stop hasty film reviews, special portal to register complaints'; Amicus curiae on review bombing case

KOCHI: The amicus curiae report in the High Court suggested police create a separate portal to complain against review bombing and allow film reviews to be posted only 48 hours after the release of the movie. The report also points out that the portal will make investigation less burdensome by registering FIRs quickly.

The report asked cyber cells to adopt advanced technology and IT tools to track down those behind fake IDs doing review bombing. Advocate Shyam Padman in this report elucidated the merits of reviewing the movie only after 48 hours saying a large chunk of the audience would have by this time watched the movie and could be able to form an opinion without any external influence.

People adopting sly motives to deliberately tarnish movies through review bombing can be taken to task using strict laws but many among these are popular vloggers and reviewers which make the challenge a daunting one. The amicus curiae report came in response to a petition that demanded an end to negative reviews.

Other recommendations :

• Union Ministry of Communications should prepare guidelines to ensure ethics in social media.
• Reviews only through BIS-approved websites
• Vloggers should drop sarcasm and obscene language.
• Spoilers that reveal the story of the movie should be avoided.
• Copyright and privacy of filmmakers should be respected.
• There should be central consumer authority action on paid reviews