Maharashtra home minister hails regulation on OTT

Mum.12- Digital Platforms fall under the purview of central government and regulating it will be a good thing for society. Recently GoI has passed an ordinance on the same which will bring OTTs under the control of Ministry of I&B.

Different platforms in India such as Films, TV, Press etc. function within a framework laid down by their respective statutory bodies, OTTs however didn’t have any body to oversee its operations. Recently Maharashtra Police Cyber Cell on the complaint received from an alert citizen had taken action on production houses and its crew members for allegedly transmitting obscene and sexually explicit content over the Internet. An FIR was registered u/sec IPC 292, 67,67(A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Sec 3,4 of Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. We need to ensure that children are not exposed to such obscenity on the Internet. Also we need to make sure that the integrity of women working in the entertainment industry isn’t compromised under any kind of pressure. Mr. Deshmukh further said that he’s confident that by regulating the OTTs, alleged malpractices can be curbed and social health can be maintained.

This Ordinance will regulate content and its dissemination on OTT platforms such as Netflix, Prime Video, MX player, Zee 5, Alt- Balaji and others.