Govt gives OTT players 100 days to finalize 'code of conduct'

The fight for freedom of expression in the digital space is set to get tougher. The Union information and broadcasting ministry, helmed by Prakash Javdekar, has set a deadline of 100 days for OTT players across India to set up a self-adjudicating committee to form a mechanism for self-censorship. The decision was conveyed to the proprietors of various OTT (over-the-top) platforms on Monday. 

A report in the Mumbai Mirror newspaper said a 45-minute meeting on the subject was attended by representatives of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Zee5, MXPlayer, ALT Balaji, HotStar, Voot, Jio, SonyLIV and Arre.

Four digital platforms refused to be part of the Digital Content Complaints Council (DCCC), an adjudicatory body formed last month with retired justice AP Shah at the helm.

While Amazon Prime Video is refraining from signing up, Netflix, Zee5, MXPlayer and ALT Balaji have asked for more time.

The only platforms to have accepted the regulations of the council and the IAMA (Internet and Mobile Association) are Hotstar, Voot, Jio and SonyLIV. The council is likely to have five to seven members with two of them representing OTT players.

The report also stated that the minister offered the example of China, where streaming sites have accepted regulations that govern the content on their platforms.

The IAMA had introduced a new set of codes titled Code of Best Practices for Online Curated Content Providers in January 2019. The voluntary censorship code prevents platforms from streaming any content that goes against a judicial order or is banned by the courts, outrages religious sentiment, promotes violence against the state, or shows child pornography.