[Updated] Netflix, Hotstar Announce Censorship Of Their Indian Shows; Amazon Prime Will Not Self-Censor

[Update] Netflix reached out to us, and have assured that this move to sign the pact is about ‘self-regulation’, rather than ‘self-censorship’. Hence, as per Netflix, “consumer will have the control over what they want to watch and when they want to watch. Netflix will not censor the content.”

IAMAI too has tweeted about self-regulation of content by OTT players in India:

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9 leading Online Curated Content Providers voluntarily signed a self-regulatory code of best practices under the aegis of IAMAI. We want to strongly underline the fact that the code is not about content censorship.@chitrita @icyneil

— IAMAI (@IAMAIForum) January 17, 2019

[Earlier] …

Netflix, world’s #1 on-demand entertainment platform, and Hotstar, India’s #1 OTT player both have announced that will censor their content in India.

Is this is a big setback to the process of creating art?

Interestingly, Amazon Prime has refused to self-censor their content, and they are now waiting for the Govt. to form regulations regarding the same.

Netflix, Hotstar: We Will Censor Content In India

Leading OTT players in India: Hotstar, Netflix and others have decided to form an unofficial code of conduct, which will drive their content initiatives in India.

As per Reuters, who have accessed this code, Netflix and Hotstar have agreed to adhere to this code, and impose self-censorship on their content.

Netflix, which came under fire for their exclusive show ‘Sacred Games’, was expected to impose self-censorship in India.

In the show, political leaders objected to the way late PM Rajiv Gandhi was shown and portrayed.

After a series of court cases and petitions, Netflix decided not to edit the content, but the controversy forced them to lookout for some permanent solution.

We had earlier reported that Netflix, along with Jio and Hotstar may impose self-censorship in India, and now, this has been confirmed by Reuters.

Subho Ray, President of the Internet and Mobile Association of India has said that the draft of the code will be made available this week. As per Subho, the code has been prepared after consulting with industry experts.

Amazon India: We Won’t Censor

Meanwhile Netflix’s arch-rival in India: Amazon Prime, has decided not to self-censorship on their content.

Interestingly, Amazon helped to draft this code of conduct for all OTTs, which Netflix and Hotstar have agreed to comply with.

Amazon India has stated that the “the current laws are adequate”, and will wait for Govt. to impose regulations and rules, which they will follow when imposed.

In India, cinema and TV fall under censorship, as per regulations, but content broadcasted via Internet, which includes Netflix and Amazon Prime, Hotstar etc are not censored.

Netflix has already faced a court case over Sacred Games, and it seems that they now want to avoid such confrontations, meanwhile Amazon Prime is known to be censoring content since 2016.

We will keep you updated, as more details come in.

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