OTTs respond to I&B minister's concerns on content regulation through IAMAI and IDMIF

Both these letters assure the Ministry that OTT platforms are committed to producing world-class content in India and promoting India as a global content hub while also accounting for the sensitivities and cultural nuances of the country.

Outlining the roles and responsibilities of OCCPs (Online Curated Content Platforms) some of the key highlights of the letters addressed to I & B Minister Anurag Thakur include:

1. Every OCCP will commit to going through a detailed process to ensure that the content that is produced and created by them is in consonance with the principles of the Code of Ethics.

This includes taking into account the fact that no content affects the sovereignty and integrity of India, threatens, endangers or jeopardises the security of the State, is detrimental to India‘s friendly relations with foreign countries. It should also refrain from inciting violence or disturb the maintenance of public order.

Given India's diverse populace encompassing various races and religions, every OCCP should exercise careful deliberation and prudence when depicting the actions, beliefs, practices, or perspectives of any racial or religious faction.

Additionally, every OCCP will ensure that the content created by them is in line with the applicable legal and statutory requirements of the country. These compliance measures will be undertaken by each OCCP via dedicated teams before any content is published on their services.

2. Each OCCP will take the responsibility to sensitise the creators and producers about the Code of Ethics.

3. Experts to provide feedback on portrayal of sensitive themes: Based on their assessment, OCCPs will engage an expert(s) on sensitive themes. These experts may include academics, legal counsels, jurists, activists, industry leaders, etc. in relevant fields. And sensitive themes include the depiction of social issues, representation of minority communities, religious groups, etc.

4. Appropriate age classification and content descriptors will be determined in accordance with the Code of Ethics and cultural sensitivities, resulting in categories such as U (Universal), U/A 7+ (Universal/Adults 7 and above), U/A 13+ (Universal/Adults 13 and above), U/A 16+ (Universal/Adults 16 and above), and A (Adults, above 18).

Age-rating categorisation is based on the contents of the programme, with a specific focus on its inclusions of the following factors elucidated in the Schedule to the Code of Ethics. These elements encompass crucial factors such as the underlying message, prevailing themes, depictions of violence, instances of nudity, portrayals of sexual content, utilization of explicit language, representations of drug and substance abuse, and the presence of horror elements.

OCCPs also have to ensure that age rating is done appropriately, teams that undertake age ratings will be sufficiently trained in the process of making assessments while thoughtfully considering the relevant nuances and sensitivities.

These compliance measures will be undertaken by each OCCP via dedicated teams before any content is published on their services.

Both the IAMAI and IDMIF letter also iterate the ‘Roles and Responsibility’ of the Self-Regulatory Body (SRB) and assures the ministry that SRB will engage in regular dialogue with our members on topical issues faced by users and how these are being addressed.

These letters shine a spotlight on ‘Access controls’ as an important aspect of user choice and engagement on platforms of OCCPs, allowing users the freedom to view and control access to content which is age appropriate for the relevant audience.

The letter states that OCCPs are uniquely placed to offer such functionality giving parents the ability to exercise discretion on the type of content that they would like their children to have access to.

And finally, to ensure that there is increased awareness amongst audience and users about the availability of the grievance redressal mechanism, the letters state that the self-regulatory body in partnership with the Ministry and the OCCPs will conduct campaigns to publicise existing grievance redressal mechanism and the function of the SRBs.

These campaigns will not only inform users of the existence of a grievance redressal mechanism to address their concerns but highlight the procedure behind them as well. Similar campaigns will also be initiated to create awareness amongst law enforcement agencies with a view towards directing users to address their grievances through the existing grievance redressal mechanism and not through law enforcement agencies.

In the previous meeting with the I&B ministry, platforms were given two weeks’ time to contemplate the information & broadcasting ministry’s proposal of forming some sort of an additional “layer“ that would review scripts before a show or series is commissioned or goes under production. There were concerns being raised by the government that content on OTT platforms is not aligned with ‘Indian values and culture’.

The letters by IAMAI and IDMIF are in response to these concerns and the members of both these bodies include some prominent platforms currently operating in the country which include Disney+Hotstar, Jio Cinema, Amazon Prime, Zee5 and more.