Plea in SC seeks autonomous body to regulate content on OTT, other digital platforms

A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to set up an autonomous body to monitor and filter content and regulate videos on over-the-top (OTT) and other platforms in India.

Filed on September 10, the PIL referred to Netflix series IC 814:The Kandahar Hijack to highlight the need for such a regulatory mechanism as the OTT platform claimed it was based on real-life incidents, according to a PTI report.

The petition has been filed by advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha and Apurva Arhatia.

It contended that digital platforms including OTTs operate without the checks and balances that traditional media are subjected to.

"However, (what) the series have shown is a vile attempt to rewrite history, downplay the terror inflicted by the actual hijackers, and subtly glorify their actions...by reducing the tragedy of IC 814 to a farcical narrative, the series tried to promote the insidious agenda that seeks to whitewash the brutality of terrorism and vilify the Hindu community," said the plea.

It further said there exists a statutory film certification body- Central Board of Film which is tasked with regulating public exhibition of films under the Cinematograph. The same law outlines a strict certification process for commercial films shown in public avenues but no such body is available to regulate the OTT content. As a result, OTTs are only bound by self-regulations which are not complied properly and the controversial contents are shown to the public at large without any checks and balances.