Internet Freedom Foundation urged online video platforms to rethink the proposed self-censorship norms for video streaming platforms, saying that TV style self-censorship system would tremendously hurt consumer choice and freedom of speech.
In a letter to industry body IAMAI, Internet Freedom Foundation said the self-regulatory mechanism is bad for online streaming platforms, producers, artists and most importantly the audience.
The letter is in response to the news story The Economic Times broke in December about video streaming companies such as Netflix, Jio, Hotstar and Sony finalising a self censorship code.
“We call on them to reconsider this proposal, it creates a de-facto censorship mechanism which will only become more pervasive in time. This will be to the detriment of the entire online video streaming sector,” the Foundation stated.
It said while some forms of self-censorship by individual platforms can fall within acceptable norms of international human rights norms, to have an expansive category that grows in time with a reporting mechanism will be visiting a harsher, TV style system.
Internet Freedom Foundation said as the proposed system is modelled after the television self-regulatory system with similarity in some core features, it will tremendously harm freedom of speech and expression furthered through online web streaming platforms.
It said it is further examining steps to call on both the Ministry of Information and Broadcast and Ministry of Electronics and IT to not take further action on this as both government ministries have filed responses in different litigations indicating that there is no statutory power vested in them to exercise any censorship on online video streaming.
“This is a position which is consistent with our free speech guarantees under the Constitution of India though much more needs to be done to protect them,” the Foundation stated.
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