Certification and Censorship in OTT platforms – Legal Desire News Network

An entrepreneur searches for change, responds to the change and exploits opportunities. Innovation is a very specific tool of an entrepreneur hence an effective entrepreneur converts a source into a resource.

-PETER DRUCKER

INTRODUCTION

An OTT or Over The Top media service is a direct streaming service, which basically delivers audio and video streaming content through the internet without subscribing to a traditional satellite services provider. There are three types of OTT Communications, Video content, and Application ecosystem. Two broad categories of OTT services are communication and non-communication. Some of the most popular OTT video streaming video platforms include Hotstar, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Zee5, Voot etc. and audio streaming services include apple music, Spotify etc.

HISTORY AND GROWTH OF OTT IN INDIA

It is known to everyone that the primary source of entertainment in the Indian household was the Television. The entire familys recreation was based on Television and which was restricted to either daily soaps, sports or news. But the scenario has changed to a very large extent and the digital content is growing in the country. In the last few months, there has been a paradigm shift in the OTT market resulting in changes in daily entertainment consumption pattern in India. The popularity of OTT platforms is not only restricted to urban areas but has become very popular in the rural areas as well.

The first dependent Indian OTT platform was Bigflix which was launched in 2008 by Reliance entertainment. In India, significant momentum was gained by OTT when Ditto TV and Sony Liv were launched in the Indian market around 2013. Hotstar, owned by Star India is the most subscribed to OTT platform in India, as of July 2020 with around 300 million active users and over 350 million downloads. The Indian OTT space is populated by many players. In 2018, the OTT was valued at 21.5B. The video OTT revenue in India was 2,019 Cr. in 2017. It is expected to reach 5,955 Cr. by 2022. It is also reported that the Indian OTT market will soon outperform the global OTT market and will probably be ranked among the top 10 by 2022.

The factors that have helped in this growth and success of OTT platforms are pricing of these platforms and internet access to people, even staying in rural and remote areas. These factors have helped a lot in the popularity of the OTT platforms.

Although the negative repercussions going on because of the ongoing lock down amid the corona virus pandemic cannot be ignored but it has been a blessing in disguise for some. OTT platforms have benefited a lot from the current situation going on in India. There has been a surge of 80% in the subscriber bases of OTT platforms amid the lock down.

REGULATIONS APPLICABLE ON OTT PLATFORMS

The rapid growth of OTT services has raised a number of national policy issues relating to regulatory imbalances and security concerns that need to be addressed. The regulatory imbalances need examination at various levels by the government. The OTT operators are adopting voluntary codes of self-regulation with respect to the content shown on their platforms. Code of best practices was signed by some of the famous OTT platforms in the country namely Hotstar, Netflix, ALT Balaji along with other in the year 2019. The major objective of this code is to empower consumers to make informed choices on age appropriate content and also protect the consumers interests in choosing and accessing the content they like as per their own time and convenience.

It is known to everyone that films in the country are required to follow certain certification rules and television programs broadcasters must adhere to the Program and Advertising code, on the other hand the producers of web series, films and other various content released only online or on digital platforms are free from the struggle of censorship or any code, which are subject to provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000 since a very long time. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting when a query was filed under RTI Act, 2005 where it was confirmed that the Central Board of Film Certification has no control over online content but solely certifies movies for theatrical release.

CONTENT BASED REGULATION

According to sections 67A, 67B, and 67C of IT Act provides a penalty and imprisonment for publishing or transmitting obscene material, sexually explicit material or material showing children in sexually explicit acts, in electronic form. The Central Government has the power to issue directions to block public access of any information, if found objectionable as per section 69A of the IT Act. It was also seen in 2015, when the Department of Telecommunications directed intermediaries to disable around 800 websites containing pornographic material, however it was later clarified that only websites having child pornographic content is to be disabled by the intermediaries and not the others. The framework and provisions under the Intermediary Guidelines which were laid by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology to observe the information hosted on any computer of intermediary is also applicable on OTT platforms, which qualifies as intermediaries under the IT Act.

Furthermore, the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 are also applicable to the OTT platforms. For example, OTT platforms are subject to section 295A of the IPC which criminalizes deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.

Recently, there also have been suggestions to include online content explicitly within the ambit of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 to prohibit the indecent representation of women in various books, films, advertisements etc.

NEED TO REGULATE OTT PLATFORM

Until present time, it generally appears that online content is unbridled and the creators of the content are exercising their liberties to the fullest. However, it is not correct to conclude that the OTT platforms are free from censorship or absolutely unregulated just because there is no set of rules and guidelines to focus upon the manner of censorship or certification of the online content or certain rules highlighting the dos and donts for the creators of online content.

A Consultation paper was published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on November 2018 to regulate framework for OTT platforms in the country. The Consultation paper mainly focussed on the analysis of the growth of OTT platforms, to keep a check on the relationship between TSP and OTT players and also to maintain a rigid framework to be followed to regulate OTT platforms. This Consultation paper was considered important because of imbalances between TSP and OTT service providers, especially when the use of OTT platforms took a surge and its popularity increased to a very great extent.

SOCIOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECTING CONTENT REGULATION ON INTERNET MEDIUMS

The arrival of Web 2.0 has revolutionized India in many ways. The reception of information through the digital medium has expanded manifold in recent years. The Internet is seen as a new liberation force driving ideas, thoughts and content across border and societies. It has led to the emergence of new actors and allowed consumers to be charge of selecting the content they want to receive and view. The internet has revolutionized the means of communication and exchange of information. It has brought to the forefront a new medium of expression.

User-generated content has proliferated across online video portals. Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and OTT services fundamentally changed the broadcasting sector. The Internet has brought about a new wave of content, providing consumers with the freedom to choose the time and space for the reception of the content. Video streaming services create a more engaging environment. But the shift from cable television to OTT services has forced regulators to think about the patterns of regulation that most fit this new form of broadcasting.

OTT services do not have one universally accepted definition. The Internet Telecommunication Union (ITU) defines OTT service as an internet application that may substitute or supplement traditional telecommunication services, from voice calls and text messaging to video and broadcast services. The Indian communications regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), also borrows the same definition as mentioned above.

The Indian government and other regulatory bodies have not tried to adjust policies to the change in technologies. The debate in India about digital content regulation has varied between calls for state censorship and self-regulation. The dilemma that authorities have been faced with is whether to subject the OTT media platforms to broadcast or films policies or to include it in the larger internet regulation frameworks.

RECENT ISSUES AND REGULATIONS ON OTT PLATFORMS

Recently, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal asked the entertainment industry to self regulate their programmes on OTT platforms as they portray India poorly. His statement is significant, the reason being that the governments proposal of an institutional self-regulatory model, just like conventional media, which was rejected by most of the OTT platforms.

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has just recently proposed bringing under its purview the contents being streamed on the several OTT platforms as said by a top official of the ministry. It was said that the regulation regimes have developed a lot but popular platform like OTT is unregulated by such regime and also has no regulations over it. Since the usage of OTT platforms have witnessed a huge increase in their subscription amid the lock-down, therefore it important for them to be regulated under the regimes.

Apart from this, last year, Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister stating that the OTT platforms are responsible for the spike in violence and crimes against women and children, therefore the content should be censored. In his letter, he also suggested an amendment to the Cinematography Act of 1952 which does not clearly define public exhibition of films and whether certificate is needed for private browsing.

CONCLUSION

The need of a proper framework of rules and regulations is very important for the OTT platforms at this time, keeping in mind the increasing popularity of these platforms. The display of obscene or sexual explicit material on these platforms might create a bad influence on the young minds, therefore regulation is necessary. With the surge in the subscription base of these platforms, other industry players and stake holders might have a clash with the OTT platforms and thus to keep that in check a proper and effective framework of rules and guidelines should be made for these platforms.

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Certification and Censorship in OTT platforms - Legal Desire News Network