Thread by @BiIndia

The likes of #Hotstar, @Netflix and even news content providers will now be regulated by the I&B Ministry, contrary to what the platforms would like - by @pabsgill

businessinsider.in/tech/news/ott-…

@MIB_India

#AmazonPrimeVideo, #Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar and other over-the-top (OTT) platforms will no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Instead, their content will be regulated by the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry, according to a notification signed by India's President Ram Nath Kovind.

This is contrary to the ‘self regulation’ that the platforms prefer. However, the move has not come as a surprise.

“Convergence of various ministries is extremely necessary with changes that are coming only in the country but also beyond,” said Amit Khare, secretary of the I&B Ministry, during a FICCI webinar back in July when he hinted that a changing of the guard may be in the works.

According to the Counterpoint analyst Tarun Pathak, the change in regulation marks a significant change.

But the challenge now will be to distinguish between streaming platforms that curate content — like Netflix, Amazon Prime and others — and platforms that host user-generated content, which includes the likes of YouTube and Facebook.

The latter are deemed ‘intermediaries’ under the IT Act and do not have active control over the content available on such platforms. The IT Act also recognizes this distinction between different platforms.

It is uncertain as of right now whether that same distinction will be made under the I&B Ministry's rule as well.
The surge in online content

The regulatory regimes for platforms in India — print, radio, television, films, and now, OTT — have largely been developed as per the platform. Some are self-regulated, some are pre-regulated, some are post-regulated and one still stands unregulated.

Until now the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar and others fell under the jurisdiction of the MeitY since they are digital solutions. Moreover, at the time of the formation of the IT Act, the OTT platforms had limited penetration.

And, since then, their content has been largely unregulated with the exception of any self-regulation they put in place for themselves.

I&B vs MeitY

Two years ago, I&B formed a committee to devise ways to regulate online media and other Internet content was disbanded after the Prime Minister’s cabinet was reshuffled. Its mandate was handed over to a panel overseen by MeitY.

Then earlier this, when the topic of regulation was broached again, MeitY asserted that the Information Technology (IT) Act 2000 and its intermediary guidelines governed the conduct for all third party content — including content pushed by OTTs.

This meant that the regulation of online platforms stands with MeitY, not the I&B Ministry.

I&B, on the other hand, has been asking streaming services to come up with a code of conduct and finalise the details of the Digital Content Complaints Committee (DCCC), similar to the Broadcast Content Complaints Committee (BCCC).

It was only in September 2020, that 17 large OTT players signed a self regulation code to govern content on their platform, which included the mandate to have a DCCC set up.