Submit guidelines to regulate OTT platform on Friday: SC directs Union govt

“A few over-the-top (OTT) platforms show some kind of pornographic content at times,” the Supreme Court noted on Thursday, directing for a mechanism to screen such programmes. The apex court has asked the Union government to submit the guidelines to regulate OTT platforms on Friday.

The apex court took up the plea of Amazon Prime Video's India head Aparna Purohit, who challenged the Allahabad High Court’s order cancelling her anticipatory bail plea in connection with the first information reports (FIRs) registered against her over the web series, Tandav. The hearing, however, has been adjourned to March 5, Friday.

A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to place before it the recent guidelines of the government to regulate social media platforms on Friday. A balance has to be struck as some OTT platforms are also showing pornographic materials on their platforms, the bench, also comprising Justice R S Reddy, said.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Aparna Purohit, termed the case against her as shocking saying she is an employee of Amazon and she is neither a producer nor an actor, “but still she has been made an accused in around 10 cases relating to the web series across the country.”

Tandav, a nine-episode political thriller starring Bollywood A-listers Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, started streaming in January. However, it soon ran into a controversy after several right-wing and Hindu groups called out the series for showing religiously insensitive content.

On Tuesday, Amazon Prime Video India issued its first apology since the Tandav controversy began in January 2021. The makers of the web series had earlier issued apologies and edited a few scenes. In a statement, Amazon Prime Video India said it “deeply regrets” that viewers found certain scenes “objectionable” in the Tandav series. The “objectionable scenes” were removed or edited, it said.

“Our teams follow company content evaluation processes, which we acknowledge need to be constantly updated to better serve our audiences. We will continue to develop entertaining content with partners, while complying with the laws of India and respecting the diversity of culture and beliefs of our audiences,” it said.

The apology came two days before Aparna Purohit’s anticipatory bail plea came up for hearing in SC on Thursday.

Incidentally, on February 16, 2021, the Union government had informed the Supreme Court that it was thinking of implementing some action to regulate OTT platforms, including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. In October 2020, too, the SC had issued a notice to the Union government, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as well as non-profit organisation Internet and the Mobile Association of India (IMAI), based on a plea filed by a few advocates. They had sought the constitution of a board or an institution or an association to monitor and manage the content on various OTT and digital media platform. 

The Union government, on February 26, also announced new rules and framework to regulate social media companies, streaming service providers and digital news publishers. These came amid the growing controversies over some shows on OTT platforms and cases being filed against digital news media platforms. 

(WIth input from PTI)