SC Seeks Centre's Response on Steps Undertaken to Regulate OTT Platforms

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked the Central Government to inform about the steps being taken to alleviate the petitioner's concerns in a plea seeking the establishment of an autonomous body to regulate over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde, asked the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) in October, last year, to respond to the petition filed by the Counsel Shashank Shekhar Jha.

Advocate Jha sought directions from the SC to the Central to set up a monitoring body for content on various OTT/streaming and digital media platforms.

“With cinemas unlikely to open anytime soon in the country, OTT/streaming and different digital media platforms have surely given a way out to filmmakers and artists to release their content without getting any clearance certificate from the censor board,” Jha had submitted in his plea.

The petitioner was initially asked by CJI Bobde to withdraw the plea and offer a representation before the government. The petitioners, however, demanded that a pending plea be tagged with it.

The Court tried to know from Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain the measures taken on the issue by the government. Jain replied that steps were still being considered by the government.

CJI S.A. Bobde said, "We cannot accept mere contemplations. Everybody contemplates. Notice issued and tagged with pending case. Submit an affidavit on steps being taken,"

The petitioner contended that none of the OTT/streaming sites, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, and Hotstar, had committed themselves to self-regulation requirements.

Jha called for the establishment of an agency that could be called the Central Board for Online Video Content Control and Monitoring (CBRMOVC) to monitor and filter the content and regulate the videos for viewers in India on different OTT platforms.