Government will be strict on OTT content, new rules will be implemented soon

New Delhi: The Government of India is working towards implementing new rules regarding the content shown on OTT. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has started preparations to implement this rule. According to this rule, the content shown on the platform will have to beep on abusive words and obscene scenes will have to be blurred. The purpose of this rule is to control the objectionable content shown on the OTT platform and to present the history and culture of the country correctly.

Amidst the growing popularity of OTT platforms in India, the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has decided to take steps to ensure the quality and accuracy of the content on the platform. Recently, the case of misrepresentation of the country’s history in Netflix’s series IC 814 made this issue more serious. Now the ministry is showing strictness on the series makers. Such content is causing an increase in the crime rate.

The activist told Aaj Tak that in view of the time, obscene content should be completely stopped on the OTT platform. In some cases, minors have committed crimes after watching this content. This situation can now lead to a serious crisis. I have shared the data with the government and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. I have told them that such content which is easily available has caused a lot of harm. Now the government needs to take action on this, I believe that it will not be necessary to just blur the pictures or videos.

“A look at the crime rate across the country and the way rapes are happening will tell you how harmful this content is in the last few months. There have been cases where minors have raped minors, brothers have raped their sisters, after watching pornographic content online and on OTT platforms. If this is not stopped, we will have a very difficult situation.”

Sources told Aaj Tak that the government is now working towards censoring content before it is aired on OTT. This time the responsibility of ensuring compliance with the rules will be on the OTT platform and content creators. Failure to comply will also lead to legal action.

At the same time, the government has started working in this direction and is discussing with big OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon and Jio. The purpose of these discussions is to understand what thinking and approach has been adopted in making series based especially on Indian background. The government has started consulting with stakeholders. Discussions have started in the IB Ministry. The government will make rules and then they will be put up for public consultation.

The proposed rules aim to control inappropriate content as well as reduce the use of intimate scenes and abusive language. These guidelines will soon be issued for public consultation, during consultation with all major platforms, the government is also asking content creators to give details of the research they do before making a series or film. The government wants to ensure that OTT platforms are used in the right direction and Indian culture and history are displayed correctly.