Media365
Amid India’s Got Latent controversy, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on February 19 issued an advisory urging over-the-top (OTT) platforms and self-regulatory bodies to strictly follow age-based content classification in line with Indian laws and the Code of Ethics outlined in the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
The controversy involving content creator Ranveer Allahbadia was recently discussed during a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology and Communications, attended by MIB Secretary Sanjay Jaju.
Days after, MIB issued an advisory shared on the official site, “This Ministry has received references from Hon’ble Members of Parliament, representations from statutory organizations and public grievances regarding the alleged spread of obscene, pornographic and vulgar content published by certain publishers of online curated content (OTT platforms) and Social Media.”
The advisory, directed at online curated content publishers and self-regulatory bodies of OTT platforms, subjected that Part III of the IT Rules 2021 outlines a Code of Ethics for OTT platforms.
This Code of Ethics mandates that platforms must not share any content prohibited by law. They should classify content based on age, enforce access controls for A-rated content, and follow other similar measures.
“In view of the above, it is advised that the OTT platforms comply with the applicable laws and the Code of Ethics outlined in the IT Rules, 2021, when publishing content on their platforms. This includes stricter adherence to the age-based classification of content prescribed under the Code of Ethics. Additionally, Self-regulatory Bodies of OTT platforms are urged to take proactive measures against any violations of the Code of Ethics by these platforms,” the advisory stated.
During the IT committee meeting on February 13, the committee sent a communication to MIB secretary Sanjay Jaju, requesting the ministry to provide a note on necessary amendments to address controversial content.
