The lockdown period saw streaming platforms flourish in India, and they have now become the primary means of entertainment for a large part of the population. But with the growth came content issues that are considered controversial. The industry ventured into a kind of self-regulation that the government was not happy with. The government decided to legislate, but the industry did not seem interested. Now there may be some kind of pathway through the media. The government, according to media reports, could offer a broad legal framework within which OTT actors can implement the code of ethics for self-regulation. This can be beneficial for everyone, as both sides can feel like they are the ones who decide the content. According to an Economic Times report, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI), the industry's supreme body, has finalized an 'implementation toolkit,'' while the government held consultations with three ministries. to make legislative changes in the regulations. content on OTT platforms.
A broad self-regulatory statute
It should be remembered that the old self-regulation model devised by the IMAI had mandated each OCCP (online curated content provider) to establish a consumer complaints service and/or an internal committee, as well as an advisory committee. To handle complaints, appeals and escalations. However, the government rejected it and ordered the IMAI to consider other regulatory models. The government believed that the code lacked independent third-party oversight. In addition, it does not have a well-defined ethical code. The government is now expected to propose a global statute for OTT platforms that will define a framework for their self-regulation. This was, in a sense, inevitable since the federal government transferred OTT platforms to the responsibility of the I&B department last year.
The problem for the government is that it does not want to be seen as censored. But at the same time, he is concerned that some of the content shown on streaming platforms is deemed "unacceptable" for various reasons. Recently, popular series like Tandav, Mirzapur 2 grabbed headlines for featuring politically sensitive content. And then, there are also a handful of platforms that basically stream soft-core content. In a conservative country like India, this is also an issue that needs to be addressed. The government basically wants an agency that viewers upset with content on OTT platforms can go to. But the government is clear that it will not be an open censorship committee in its construction. For the record, the various OTT platforms in total reach around 400 million people and the market is estimated to be around Rs 3000 crore. At present, India has around 40 active OTT platforms with a large number of regional players as well as global players like Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix. It is also said that the world bigs are ready to subscribe to the “implementation toolkit” suggested by IMAI.