Government to bring OTT and digital media under I&B | Fusion - WeRIndia

The central government issued an order to bring digital news and OTT platforms under the ambit of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry. A gazette notification was issued by the central government which was signed by the President of India.

As per the order, the digital audio-visual content including news, films and web shows will be under the ambit of I&B ministry to regulate them.

The lockdown increased the viewers of digital content in the country. As a result, many movies and web shows have been releasing on the OTT platforms. The government has been receiving many complaints about vulgar content on OTT.  Since there is no regulating body or law to govern digital content, the government feels a need to regulate it. That’s why it issued the latest order to regulate online content, news, current affairs content etc.

I&B minister, Prakash Javadekar last year said that government would not control the freedom of media. Yet, he felt the need to regulate OTT platforms as it was in the case of print and electronic media. The law will be enforced after the approval of the Union Cabinet. If the new regulation comes into force, all news websites must register with Registrar of Newspapers of India.

Earlier in October, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court seeking the regulation of content on OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. The apex court sought the government’s response in this regard.

India is not the first country to regulate digital content. There are many countries which have regulating bodies or laws to regulate digital media. For instance, the Federal Communications Commission regulates electronic communication. It has advanced laws for the internet. Not just the US, Singapore, China, and South Korea have censorship laws for the internet.

However, in India, the implementation of the new regulation as per the opinion of many media persons.

Image by Jade87 from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)

Image Reference: https://pixabay.com/photos/netflix-computer-cushion-keyboard-4011345/