Don’t go OTT with censorship

The government’s new rules for digital media and intermediaries, which were recently notified, seem to be unfinished work if its response to the Supreme Court's comments in a recent case is any indication. The streaming industry is nervous and is not happy with the likely negative impact of the new rules, but now there is the prospect of their becoming tighter and acquiring teeth.

This is because the court remarked that the new rules “lacked teeth’’ and Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta told the court that the government could come up with another draft incorporating the court’s suggestions. This assumes significance especially in view of the court’s comment that there is much obscenity and uncensored content on the streaming services.

The regulatory framework which is prescribed now is considered to have a restrictive effect on individual freedom, freedom of expression, privacy and creativity. It will hurt more if the government thinks of imposing some form of censorship, taking a cue from the court’s remark.

Streaming platforms have emerged as a major entertainment industry in India. To constrain it with censorship, which may be the natural response of the government, and to prescribe penalties for violations would be an unhealthy and unwise move. OTT content is not like cinema, which is for public viewing. It is viewed at home as private entertainment and so all the norms for public viewing do not apply to it.

In any case, there is no accepted standard of obscenity, and the same content may appeal in different ways to different people. It will be wrong if a government body sits in judgement over it and decides what is good for viewing and what is not. OTT platforms can exercise self-regulation and classify content as appropriate for different kinds of viewership and age groups, as is done in other countries. Wielding of the censoring scissors should be avoided.

The Supreme Court raised the issue of obscenity while hearing a petition for anticipatory bail from an executive of Amazon Prime Video, Aparna Purohit, who has been accused of hurting religious sentiments by streaming the web series Tandav. Her petition for pre-arrest bail had been rejected by the Allahabad High Court, which said that some scenes, which have since been deleted, and the very word Tandav could hurt Hindu sentiments.

The Supreme Court, on appeal, gave her protection from arrest for four weeks but made the observation on obscene content on some OTT platforms. Digital media already have much to worry about the restrictions being imposed by the government’s new rules. The court’s comments may encourage the government to make it even more difficult for them by tightening the rules further.