OTT guidelines | Streaming platforms seek protection from criminal proceedings: Report

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The Tandav controversy seems to have caused a lot of anxiety among OTT players. In a meeting with OTT platforms, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar has said the ministry and industry will partner to make the OTT experience better but remained non-committal on providing relief related to criminal proceedings, according to a report in The Economic Times.

“We want some assurance that as we follow the detailed grievance redressal system laid down by the government in the guidelines, we will not be subjected to criminal proceedings in the parallel. Our intent was to highlight the top concerns and this was the first official meeting,” a representative who attended the meeting told the publication.

The companies also voiced concerns regarding the classification of content into age-based categories.

Javadekar informed the industry representatives about the new provisions in guidelines.

“The new guidelines merely requires the OTT platforms to disclose information and that there is no requirement of registration of any kind with the Ministry.” he said.

Javadekar added that a form for this will be ready soon. Furthermore, the rules focus on the self-classification of content instead of any form of censorship. Further, OTT platforms are expected to develop an effective grievance redressal mechanism.

Javadekar also clarified that in the self-regulating body, no member will be appointed by the government.

He assured the industry representatives that under the new rules, there will be an Inter-Departmental Committee to look at complaints that remain unresolved at the self-regulatory level.