I&B Ministry Unveils OTT Regulations: New Self-Classification System Will Include 13+, 16+, U & A Category
I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday (February 25, 2021) announced guidelines for OTT platforms as well as social media platforms.
I&B
Minister
Prakash
Javadekar
and
IT
Minister
Ravi
Shankar
Prasad
on
Thursday
(February
25,
2021)
announced
guidelines
for
OTT
platforms
as
well
as
social
media
platforms.
OTT
censorship
and
guidelines
have
been
the
talk
of
the
town
due
to
the
growing
number
of
complaints
registered
against
OTT
platforms
and
web
series
in
the
last
year.
Shows
like
Tandav,
Mirzapur,
A
Suitable
Boy
and
many
more
have
been
called
out
by
netizens
leading
to
government
intervention
in
creating
guidelines
for
OTT
platforms.
While
unveiling
the
new
institutional
mechanism
for
OTT,
Prakash
Javadekar
insisted,
"Every
freedom
has
to
be
responsible
freedom.
We
have
decided
to
have
clear
regulations
platforms."
He
also
added
that
a
grievance
redressal
system
will
be
mandatory
for
all
OTT
platforms.
Other
guidelines
include
a
self-regulation
body
headed
by
a
retired
Supreme
Court
or
High
Court
Judge
(or
a
prominent
person
in
this
category),
and
an
oversight
mechanism
similar
to
the
self-regulation
mechanism
used
by
the
Television
and
Print
mediums.
Javadekar
also
added
that
rules
for
the
grievance
redressal
system
will
be
similar
to
the
ones
announced
by
Ravi
Shankar
Prasad
for
social
media.
The
guidelines
for
social
media
grievance
include
appointing
Chief
compliance
officer
(resident
of
India),
Nodal
contact
person
(resident
of
India),
and
grievance
officers
(resident
of
India).
He
also
revealed
that
a
monthly
compliance
report
is
to
be
submitted
to
the
appointed
committee,
and
the
questionable
content
will
have
to
be
removed
within
24
hours
after
complaint
is
filed.
As
for
self-regulation,
he
revealed
that
the
platforms
will
be
given
responsibility
for
self-censoring
content.
"Since
there
is
no
censor
board,
there
will
have
to
be
a
self-classification
of
13+,
16+,
U
and
A
category.
The
ethics
code
used
by
the
CBFC
will
be
the
same
as
OTT.
Media's
freedom
is
absolute
but
responsible
and
that
is
self-restriction," Javadekar
added.
Three
months
will
be
given
to
implementing
these
guidelines
and
create
the
bodies.
Javadekar
also
reacted
to
reports
claiming
that
OTT
platforms
were
not
consulted
during
guidelines
creation.
He
said,
"40
OTT
entities
are
known
and
three
consultations
through
meeting
have
taken
place,
after
which
the
guidelines
have
been
created."