Govt trusts content creators, but self-regulation mechanism critical: Experts at FICCI FRAMES 2023

Setting the context, Gowree Gokhale, FICCI Co-Chair, Task Force Privacy and Data Security & Partner, Nishith Desai Associates, said, “I feel very proud that the industry has really done well in the last two years with self-regulation. But, of course, the topic today is what more? We are going to understand the learnings and what more can we do about it. In India, freedom of speech and expression is a constitutional right, but it’s not absolute. There are certain guardrails within which we need to work, and those guardrails can come in two ways. One is, of course, the written law, and the other one is self-regulation under IPC, and also there are many provisions where some of the guardrails have been established.”

Asking the panellists, Madhu Bhojwani and Tanveer Bookwala, Gowree said, “When you have these guardrails in terms of law and self-regulation, as a producer-creator, how do you look at them? Do you go back and read these regulations? Or is it something imbibed in you in a way that you know what is the right thing to do?”

Answering Gowree’s question first, Madhu Bhojwani said, “Regarding the code of ethics, I think it is pretty self-explanatory. The guardrails are already in place. We are working within a framework. As creators, it is second nature to us because I don’t think it is something that is so complicated that you cannot paint within the lines. While we want to continue to push the envelope and create content that is interesting, constantly pushing the boundaries, we know that there are certain areas where you have to paint within the line. What’s good is that the platforms that we work with have very strong and mature S&P departments, which are now very clearly aligned with what is it that you can and cannot do. Of course, you always function within the grey, but I think we are pretty much in a place where there is a lot of clarity.”

Agreeing with Bhojwani, Tanveer Bookwala said, “As creators, when we create material, the one question that we ask ourselves is, will this send us to jail? When the answer is NO, we go ahead with it. If the answer is yes, we think about it, and then we go ahead with it. But having said that, we are now living in very sensitive times. We have seen a lot of people getting offended with a lot of things and it is impossible to please everyone. We do keep in mind what won’t offend people, what will align with the sensibilities of the culture. At one level, it has become a little bit of a difficult situation because we are now self-questioning everything we do.”

According to Vikram Sahay, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, the FIRs on OTT content have reduced because of the robust self-regulation mechanism. He said, “When we were trying to get into reading the digital structure, we were exploring ideas from abroad, and trying to see what’s happening in other countries in Australia and Singapore. We needed to have a strong soft-touch regulation mechanism, because the government has a lot of trust and faith in the creators. And it is with that faith and trust, that we embarked upon the concept of self-regulation with a strong citizen centric framework of grievance redressal. If citizens have a grievance, they have a forum where to go about right to express themselves.”

Ajit Thakur spoke about the OTT revolution and said, “Five years ago, when the OTT revolution started, there was a wrong perception among a certain creative community that OTT was only for young, 25-year-old males, and was to be watched on personal devices. Even then, it wasn’t true as OTT was much wider. But through the three years of COVID, now 40% to 50% of viewership has shifted to larger screens or TV screens, and there’s a lot more family viewing happening on OTT than the normal perception. The creative community in India has always been adaptive and responsible, and I think that shift has happened from primarily a young male medium to a family viewing audience. The community is adapting very fast, thanks to IAMAI and some of the regulations the government has taken.

Highlighting the current gaps in the self-regulation system, Thakur said, “I’ve had the privilege of working with two of the biggest broadcasters, Sony and Star, and I think the self-regulation used to work brilliantly then. We have policies in place, but the gap we have is awareness. In TV, that ticker used to run continuously, and if you had a problem, you could write to the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council. I think we need to do a lot more on that, but just us doing it is not enough. I think we need help from the bodies and the government as well to build it.”

Responding to Gowree’s question about whether all content out there is kosher or whether something more needs to be done, Nitin Tej Ahuja, CEO of the Producer’s Guild of India, said, “How do you define kosher? What is kosher for you may not be kosher for me. Usually, in a diverse country like India, I think a good lowest common denominator would probably mean a blank screen. As Madhu also pointed out, especially for the members or the person, the person cannot be responsible corporate citizens. The entire process that goes behind the content finally appearing on a platform is very different from someone going on a YouTube rant and uploading it on YouTube. There are mechanisms in place, and people can object if they have any concerns. Thanks to MIB for having such responsible and pretty soft-touch regulation, which emphasizes self-regulation.”

Gowree asked Madhu Bhojwani about her learnings as a member of the IAMAI self-regulatory body, and Madhu said, “When the idea for self-regulatory code of ethics was first floated in 2021, the entire creative community was a bit wary. When the first document titled Code of Ethics was read, it was read with a lot of trepidation. But the community has taken it very well. When the IAMAI approached me to join the council, I was very happy to join this group of people who had the privilege of understanding first-hand what sorts of grievances or complaints are coming forward. It’s been two years since, and over the last 22 months, we’ve had a total of about 13 complaints, which are at the second tier. Under advisement from the ministry, there have been two reviews that have happened on certain platforms. Honestly, the experience has been wonderful. I’m a creator-producer, and the idea is to be a spokesperson for the entire community at large, so that our rights as creators are not infringed upon.”

Bhojwani complimented how platforms address these concerns and said, “When there is any concern or any grievance that’s coming forward, the platform’s themselves have set up such robust frameworks to be able to address it at a first level. What does not get rectified at that as a filter, comes to us. The fact that we have had, just the number of cases we’ve speaks volumes for the fact that there is a lot that’s been done, and it has been successful. The advocacy around the fact that this framework has been set up, needs to be more and which is where we look to the ministry to sort of, you know, work with us collaboratively, to be able to let the larger community know that, hey, there is something like this in place, and you don’t need to seek the you no recourse by going to court. We have the jurisdiction to be able to enforce the code of ethics.”