Time to Skip the Ad

The internet is totally depended upon advertisements to sustain itself. Let us take YouTube for example. The entire service provided by YouTube, i.e. video hosting and video streaming, are free of cost. The main revenue generator for YouTube are ads.

Ads are everywhere, be it newspaper ads, or TV ads. However, ads on the internet are different. On the internet, the ads are more targeted towards the viewer, and such type of precision is not possible with newspaper or TV ads.

The way internet works should not be compared with any other thing in the offline world. Because, the internet is different, it has allowed a new form of ads to develop. I call these new form of ads as “forced ads”. Forced ads are those ads which you are not able to skip/avoid/close, or those ads which obstruct the actual content you intend to view.

Again taking YouTube as an example, the ads on YouTube which cannot be skipped are a form of forced ads. One can hardly find an example of forced ads in the offline world, but on the internet, forced ads are everywhere.

The Problem with Forced Ads

Advertisements are a form of commercial speech. The Supreme Court of India has held the same through its various judgments. Because advertisements are a form of speech, they are governed by Article 19(1)(a) and restricted by Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India.

The Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression also includes, by necessary implication, freedom not to listen and/or to remain silent.

In Birangana Religious Society vs State & Others 1996 SCC OnLine Cal 132, the High Court of Calcutta held that:

“12. Freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Art. 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India includes, by necessary implication, freedom not to listen and/or to remain silent. One cannot exercise his right at the cost and in total deprivation of others' rights. A right cannot be conferred by the authorities concerned upon a person or a religious organization to exercise their rights suspending and/or taking away the rights of others.”

Though one has a right to speak, others has a right to listen or decline to listen. Therefore, nobody can be compelled to listen/view anything without their consent. No person has the right to make others their captive listener/audience. A person cannot be forced to listen/view something which they do not want to, as it is their fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.

In Afzal Ansari v. State of U.P., 2020 SCC OnLine All 592, the High Court of Allahabad held as under:

“No person has the right to take away the right of others. There is no religious freedom in this country except Article 25 of the Constitution which is subject to public order, morality and health and other provision including Article 19(1)(a). No person has the right to make other persons captive listener. A person cannot be forced to listen to something which he does not want to as it is his/her fundamental right.”

Therefore, the ads on the internet which cannot be skipped keeps the viewer as a captive audience and hence it is a violation of our Fundamental Right.

Ads, per se, are not bad. But forced ads are. Forced ads take away the autonomy from the viewer. A human is reduced to a mere profit generating object, and is treated the same way by the corporations, which use Forced Ads to maximize their corporate interest. Forced ads are not just dehumanizing, but they are also a huge wastage of human hours. One should never be forced to do something against their will.

Advertisements on newspapers or on TVs are different from the advertisements on the internet. Newspaper ads are not obstructing the actual contents of the news, they are placed next to the news article and the reader has full autonomy to either see the ad or skip it. On televisions, the viewer has the freedom to change the channel to avoid viewing ads.
However, on the internet, the viewer has no control over Forced Ads. For example, on YouTube, changing the video and coming back to the previous video after a minute will also not help the viewer avoid the ads, unlike on television where the shows are synchronous.

“A man is a master of his own devices.” One must not be forced to see an ad. We the people of India must have a Right to Skip.