Thread by @nixxin

So @PrakashJavdekar and @MIB_India are looking to "certify" online streaming content.

I'm told that there's a meeting with the industry later in September. This is an unnecessary step being taken, and a tricky one.

A thread to explain what's going on.

So from what I hear, @MIB_India is claiming that there's a high court judgment mandating this move. The court judgment, I checked, is asking the government to consider, and is not mandating. There's a difference.

Now the online streaming industry has, by itself, created a self regulatory code. Not everyone has done this. A few, including Netflix and hotstar have. Here's a copy of the code:
medianama.com/2019/01/223-ia…

Now I'm not particularly in favor of this code. It was unnecessary. I've explained why, here:
medianama.com/2019/01/223-gi…
Essentially they're giving hecklers the veto.

It was a defensive move looking to indicate to the court that the industry is responsible. Well, the court has said that since this code is not enforceable (and not everyone has signed) , the state can still go ahead and create a code.

It has done what I was afraid of: created a situation where the government might take this code and make it more "sanskari" 🤦‍♂️

Wait... There's more.

A key issue is the question about the Internet and it's governance. Now Netflix, hotstar don't have user generated content. So they're not intermediaries. They are content companies. So how are they "regulated"? Section 79 of IT act doesn't apply.

The other thing is, what about porn? That is streaming content too. So the same regulations that apply to Netflix will apply to porn. How exactly will this work?

At the heart of this issue is the question: is online streaming public viewing or private viewing? Cinema and TV are seen as public. Viewing anything on the internet is in your device, your home, your bedroom. It's private. And guess what...

In the pornban case, in the supreme court, the government of India said that they don't want to do moral policing.

Will the same yardstick apply to Netflix and hotstar? They're just as private as viewing porn.

This is going to be really interesting.
medianama.com/2015/08/223-mo…

Anyway, there are laws to block "illegal" content under the IT Act.

One last point: @MIB_India has zero jurisdiction over the internet. So @PrakashJavdekar does not have the grounds to start this process.

Did a short video with @imsoumyarendra discussing issues related to this content regulation move from @PrakashJavdekar



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