Govt. Will ‘Certify’ Netflix, Amazon Prime Content After Diwali: Leila, Gandii Baat Are The Reasons?

As per fresh reports coming in, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will soon certify the content shown by all OTT players in India, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Zee5, Hotstar and more.

If we believe the reports, then religiously sensitive content such as Leila on Netflix, and obscene content such as Gandi Baat on AltBalaji are the main reasons.

Govt. Will Certify Online Streaming Content

LiveMint has received some insider information from the Govt. officials, which confirms that online content from all OTT players will be ‘certified’, and this will start after Diwali.

As per the available information, the content will not be regulated per se, but certified based on some guidelines and instructions framed by the Ministry.

While some OTT players have expressed apprehensions on this move, others are quite confident that this move will finally help the online streaming companies to get a foothold in the market.

An interesting fact about this move: Only Indian content will be ‘certified’ by Govt., and no foreign content will pass through this filter.

What Triggered This Certification Mode?

If we believe the reports, then two web series have irked the folks sitting at the upper echelon of power, and this can be the trigger which prompted this action.

We had earlier reported earlier this month, that Govt. has initiated talks and consultation with the OTT players in India, regarding this regulation and certification.

That time too, it was widely reported that the content presented in shows like Leila was the reason why the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has to intervene and propose some sort of filter for online content.

LiveMint says: “These include Leila on Netflix that hints directly at the repercussions of right-wing Hindu fundamentalism and the kind of dystopian society it could create, and Gandii Baat on ALTBalaji that features erotic-themed stories from rural India.”

OTT Players Are Following Self-Regulation

As of now, 9 major OTT players operating in India, which includes Hotstar, Voot, ZEE5, Arre, SonyLIV, ALTBalaji, Reliance Jio, Netflix and Eros Now are following a self-imposed regulation for the content, based on the parameters created by them.

These self-imposed regulation pertains to creating categories, based on the viewers:

• General or Universal content, which can be viewed by everyone
• Content which requires parental guidance
• Age specific content, which meant for specifically one age-group.

However, we are not exactly sure how the ‘certification’ of online content will work and what mechanism Govt. will impose, to make sure that the certification works.

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