Govt brings all OTTs like Netflix, Amazon Prime and digital news sites under the purview of I&B ministry

NEW DELHI | MUMBAI: All content on OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and others, and digital news sites will come under the purview of the ministry of Information and broadcasting from now, the government said on Tuesday.

A ministry official said the move was taken to ensure a level playing field for all media, and bring an "enabling regulatory environment so that all digital players adhere to the laws of the land."

"Some content on certain platforms has caused a lot of problems to the citizens of the country who don't even have a grievance redressal platform. There have been at least 40 court cases where the government had to make an appearance. Courts have also urged the ministry to have a regulatory mechanism. We have been working on that with stakeholders," a top official in the ministry said.


In the ongoing Sudarshan TV case, the I&B ministry in its affidavit had said that it was more important to regulate online media than broadcast TV.

Earlier this year the I&B ministry had rejected the self regulation model proposed by 15 top OTTs that had internal representatives and an external domain expert to address complaints.

According to official sources, the ministry wants more than "just a token model of self regulation," from the OTT players, and it specifically looking at having a body that can be regulated by the ministry.


The I&B ministry has reached out to MeitY to bring OTTs earlier this year and had sought to to explore ways in which the latter could transfer the power to regulate online content to the I&B ministry, without making amendments to the Information Technology Act, 2000 which right now comes under the IT ministry's jurisdiction.

Though the I&B ministry certifies content for theatres through the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification ), content released on OTT platforms do not require a certification by the body.

The intent was to make the demarcation of responsibilities clearer, with MeitY retaining control over policies on meta data, personal data or non-personal data, and the MIB getting legislative control over content related issues of all platforms, including online platforms, officials said. "This will also give more authority and power to the I&B ministry to talk to OTT platforms many of who till now felt the ministry lacked the legislative power to control them," an expert said.


In July, Amit Khare, I&B secretary had said that the ministry was proposing to take over jurisdiction on online content regulation in India from MeITY.

In the past few years, there have been multiple PILs against content on OTTS, but many have been quashed by the court, while two of them have asked the ministry to put in place a system to address complaints.

Legal experts feel the move will curb freedom of expression.

“Self regulation has historically been the best way forward in this sphere. This move will have to be weighed in light of Article 19 of the Constitution of India. If implemented without reasonable restrictions this can harm the journalistic and artistic freedom,” said Kaushik Moitra, Partner at Bharucha & Partners.

Moita added that freedom of expression and freedom of choice are fundamental to the fourth estate. “One has to wait and watch how this regulation plays out in democratic India.

The members of the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) have been meeting on the issue since last few weeks.