Most online video streaming platforms have agreed to a code of self-regulation that may receive endorsement from the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry. But divisions among companies on the principle of self-regulation and details of it persist.
Netflix, Star India’s Hotstar, Reliance Jio, Zee5, AltBalaji, SonyLiv and Times Internet Limited-owned MX Player are among those that have agreed to sign up. Amazon Prime Video, Google and Facebook are the notable exceptions. Among those who agree on self-regulation, there are some differences over details of grievance redressal mechanisms.
This was confirmed to ET by executives of some of the streaming platforms. These people spoke off the record. The code has been drafted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). ET has a copy of the code.
“The ministry of I&B has not ratified any such self-regulatory code for online video platforms by IAMAI,” the spokesperson for the ministry told ET.
I&B secretary Amit Khare is a keynote speaker at the IAMAI’s India Digital Summit 2019 starting Thursday in Delhi. Khare has been a vocal proponent of self-regulation by online video platforms.
The code is part of a document named ‘Code of Best Practices for Online Curated Content Providers’. It stops online video platforms from showing content that’s banned by Indian courts, “disrespects” the national emblem and flag, “outrages” religious sentiments, “promotes” terrorism or violence against the State and shows children in sexual acts.
Star India MD Sanjay Gupta told ET that the company has always believed in self-regulation. “People should be responsible for content that they put out. And if we need to create edgier content, it should be done by active choice,” Gupta said.
MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said, “The guidelines to be released by IAMAI will impact the industry as much as they will lay down the principles to be followed by the players to curate content in a responsible manner.”
An Amazon India spokesperson said, “While we are assessing the situation, we believe that current laws are adequate to fulfil this mission.”
The code calls for a grievance redressal mechanism. In the IAMAI-drafted code, this mechanism is the responsibility of a one-tier body: a “Content Compliance Department” with a “Content Compliance Officer” within the company.
There were suggestions of a tier 2, called the “OVP (online video platforms) Content Committee”, an independent body that would “address the grievances of viewers”. But Netflix and Zee5 did not endorse a two-tiered system, said people familiar with these discussions.
The latest version of the code suggests that both I&B ministry and the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) can receive complaints and forward it to companies.
MeitY officials, speaking off record, told ET the ministry is adopting a wait-and-watch approach before deciding its next course of action. “MeitY did not want to get involved in the matter because its position in court is that a grievance redressal mechanism is a violation of constitutional principles,” said a person aware of the matter.
In December 2018, MeitY had filed an affidavit in the Delhi High Court in response to a July 2018 public interest litigation that demanded deletion of “derogatory” scenes from Netflix’s original show Sacred Games.
Some experts are apprehensive of the self-regulation code. “These proposals ostensibly for selfcensorship are worrying as they seem to replicate the television model of content control for internet video streaming providers,” said Apar Gupta, executive director of the New Delhi-based Internet Freedom Foundation.
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