Why streaming platforms are no safe haven for feature films yet

New Delhi: A couple of weeks ago, YouTube put an age restriction on filmmaker Anand Patwardhan’s acclaimed documentary ‘Raam Ke Naam’, opening the film with a disclaimer saying it may be ‘inappropriate for some users’. The 27-year-old film that explores the campaign waged by the Vishva Hindu Parishad to build a Ram temple at the site of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, and the communal violence it triggered, had been passed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) with a ‘U’ (acceptable for universal audiences) certificate during release, aired on Doordarshan and won the National Film Award for Best Investigative Documentary.

YouTube did not respond to Mint’s queries on its censorship policies but ‘Raam Ke Naam’ is not the only instance of a film losing out on some sections of an online audience, a space traditionally considered free and conducive to creative expression.