India, Dec. 8 -- The news that the Supreme Court had suggested that people might be required to verify their age through Aadhaar authentication before watching an OTT show on Netflix or Amazon Prime (or other such platforms) caused both hilarity and consternation. The idea of a pop-up window requiring you to scan your Aadhaar just as you settle down to watch the new season of Pataal Lok is equal parts funny and terrifying. While such a move might not, finally, be implemented because of how difficult it is to enforce, the Court's off-the-cuff observations do reveal the haphazard - and potentially dangerous - nature of the current legal discourse around the regulation of online content in India.

As I have previously written in this column,...