Govt Will Regulate, Control Netflix, Prime, Hotstar As ‘Complaints’ Rise; Tandav, Mirzapur Is The Reason?

The Union minister for information and broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar has announced that the government will be launching a set of guidelines to regulate content on OTT platforms, citing the back-to-back controversies caused by the major streaming services.

Why Would This Happen?

According to them, soon they will be releasing these regulations, considering the rising number of complaints these platforms keep racking up with every passing day.

He said, “We have received a lot of complaints against some serials available on OTT platforms. Films and serials released on OTT platforms and digital newspapers do not come under the purview of the Press Council Act, Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act or Censor Board. We will come up with some guidelines on it soon,”.

Streaming Platforms Creating Controversy

The Amazon Prime Video’s political drama Tandav has created such a controversy that the sections of the public up in arms for its depiction of Hindu gods. 

So far, many criminal complaints have been filed across multiple states against the show’s producers and actors for slights.

They are alleged inappropriate depiction of Uttar Pradesh police personnel, deities and adverse portrayal of a character playing the role of prime minister in the show.

Apart from Tandav, the popular Prime Video series, Mirzapur, also is tangled in a court case where a petitioner claimed the show tarnishes the image of the town of Mirzapur where it is supposedly based.

Not only Amazon, the global streaming giant Netflix, too, is tangled in controversy when it comes to the content it hosts.

Its most recent FIR was filed against the limited series where A Suitable Boy over a kissing scene shot in a temple.

This was deemed “offensive to Hindu sentiments” by right-wing people on social media and even leaders of political parties.

Center’s Take On These Issues

The Centre issued a gazette notification which brought digital news portals and video streaming platforms under the ambit of the ministry of information and broadcasting, during November last year.

After two months, 15 Indian streaming services and digital content companies including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5 had agreed to adopt the Universal Self-Regulation Code for Online Curated Content Providers (OCCPs).

During that time, several media experts stated that this could have far-reaching consequences on creative expression in India, while others expressed fear of undue censorship.