The Supreme Court has asked for the Centre's response on a plea seeking guidelines to regulate the functioning of online media streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, renewing a debate on censorship and freedom of expression.
Arguments by petitioner:
An NGO, named Justice For Rights Foundation, has alleged that online platforms are -
displaying sexually explicit, vulgar, violent, unlicenced, unregulated, uncertified content and
collecting subscription amounts from Indian consumers whereas the content was illegal under the provisions of the Indian Cinematograph Act and not cleared by the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC).
The petition seeks the formulation of guidelines or legislation to regulate content being displayed by them.
The absence of guidelines has given rise to a special class of broadcasters and this discriminates against customers, cable TV producers and direct-to-home operators.
Counter-arguments:
In February, the Delhi High Court had dismissed the plea after it was informed by the central government that the online platforms were neither required to obtain a licence from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, nor was their content regulated by it.
The Ministry of Law and Justice had also stated that the matter was outside its domain.
In January, online platforms like Netflix, Hotstar, Jio and ALTBalaji and Eros Now signed a voluntary censorship code that stops them from showing certain kinds of content. They also set up a redressal mechanism for complaints.
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