I&B ministry starts work on self-regulation law for OTT platforms, online news

In a move aimed at providing a level-playing field in the media, the Narendra Modi government has decided to bring in an overarching statute that will provide for self-regulation in digital media including Over-the-top (OTT) platforms and news websites to address issues of sensitive video content and fake news, people familiar with the matter said. There are at least 40 OTT platforms including multinationals like Netflix, Amazon Prime and HotStar and hundreds of news content websites.

The issue of self-regulation in digital media was taken up at the highest levels this month. Subsequently, the ministry of information and broadcasting decided to frame an overarching statute under which the digital media can self-regulate itself, a senior government official said.

“Like the print media has the Press Council of India, films have the Central Board of Film Certification and TV channels are broadly regulated under The Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, the digital media which has been unregulated till now, will soon have an overarching regulation for redressal of complaints on content,” the official said.