OTT platforms a divided house on self-regulation

In March, this column had asked if over-the-top (OTT) video streaming platforms, which do not see eye to eye, will resort to forming more than one self-regulatory body. At the end of May, video-on-demand services split into two groups and announced the formation of two distinct bodies. One was set up by the broadcaster-led OTT streaming platforms formed under the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), soon to be renamed Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) to reflect the inclusion of digital platforms. Their self-regulatory body is called the Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC) for digital OTT platforms, which is the second-tier mechanism at the appellate level, similar to the Broadcast Content Complaint Council (BCCC), which the IBF had set up for the linear broadcasting sector in 2011.