Why OTT Platforms Under Government Scanner is it good or bad?

OTT Platforms Under Government Scanner: OTT stands for “Over the Top.” The Way of viewing entertainment is changed all over the world with the advent of OTT platforms in India. Now in this article, we will talk about Why OTTs Under Government Scanner and is it good or bad for entertainment industry?

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Digital Media platforms let you view Movies, TV shows, and much more on smart devices. OTT services requires an internet connection to watch latest TV shows and movies on Smart devices. Most of the OTT providers have their own App or Website to release the movies to audience but the OTT platforms doesn’t have a censor for regulating the public exhibition of films. So, the Government has come up with the content regulation for OTT as well.

Why OTT Platforms Are Under Government Scanner?

On OTT platforms we can see a lot of web series and shows that ran into controversies over the last 1 year. With the strong opposing from certain groups of people the Govt has taken OTTs also under the Government Scanner along with Social Media platforms. It is stated that the certain section of public has mentioned several complaints that focus on the need to regulate online content especially on OTT platforms.

OTT Platforms Under Government Regulation

Due to the pandemic and the lockdown People are structured to their homes. All Theaters are closed at that time OTT platforms provided a lot of Entertainment to people with a single click. They can be able to watch Movies and Tv shows of their preference. Apart from movies and TV Shows, OTT platforms comes with originals like Web series and shows that to in regional languages. But all these content on the OTTs is not certified by any authority like Cinema. In order to cash on this opportunity some OTTs have come up with the unusual content that lead to controversies. So, the government has come up with an idea to regulate online content especially on OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, Alt Balaji and other leading OTT platforms of India including regional OTTs like Aha, Neestream and many others.

How Government Regulate OTT Content?

As per the Govt of India, the Freedom of speech and expression for any creative work and art is important as long as the regulations remain within the purview of the current laws. Also, all the Media platforms including OTT has to follow the Code of Ethics.

The I & B Minister once announced in 2019 regarding the OTTs, stating that the government would not hinder freedom of media. Yet, he also declared that there must exist a management system to maintain the code of ethics
The Govt will monitor the content which is coming on OTT platforms
As per new rules, web platforms will have to self-classify the content into five age-based categories — U (universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (adult)
Grievance redressal system has also been made mandatory
OTT platforms need to provide information on OTT code of regulation

With the new OTT and Media regulations, most of the prominent OTT platforms in India including Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video, had adopted a toolkit based on the Universal Self-regulation Code.

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