Regulatory code for OTT content soon  

Context: Twenty-one MPs cutting across party lines have sought an answer from the government about the content on over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, asking whether the Centre was aware that such platforms were full of content with “sex, violence, abuse, vulgarity and disrespect to religious sentiments”.

Government’s Response:

• Information and Broadcasting Ministry would soon come up with a regulatory code on the content on these platforms. The guidelines are expected to be made public in a week’s time.
• The government amended the “allocation of Business Rules” in November last year, bringing all online platforms under the mandate of the I&B Ministry. All the platforms were told to register with the Ministry.

About OTT:

• An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet.
• OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributor of such content.
• It has also been used to describe no-carrier cell phones, where all communications are charged as data, avoiding monopolistic competition, or apps for phones that transmit data in this manner, including both those that replace other call methods and those that update software.
• The term is most synonymous with subscription-based video-on-demand (SVoD) services that offer access to film and television content.

https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/regulatory-code-for-ott-content-soon/article33764462.ece