NEW DELHI: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has welcomed the toolkit for implementation of the code for self-regulation of online curated content providers brought out by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) last week.
“The tool kit and the code have been drafted by industry stakeholders who are also members of the CII national committee on media and entertainment and CII sub-committee on OTT and digital content. CII welcomes and supports this initiative and requests the government of India to endorse and support it," CII national committee on media and entertainment chairman & Disney-Star India Pvt Ltd MD K Madhavan said in a statement.
He went on to say that the industry is mature and responsible enough to keep necessary guidelines in mind while creating content.
“It is committed to abiding by all safety features such as content descriptors, age classification, maturity rating and access controls," he added.
17 streaming services came together under the aegis of the IAMAI to announce the adoption of an implementation toolkit last week, that they say is in furtherance to the universal self-regulation code the body had brought out in September 2020 but was rejected by the government. The signatories include Zee5, Viacom 18 (VOOT), Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, SonyLIV, MX Player, Jio Cinema, Eros Now, ALTBalaji, Arre, Hoichoi, Hungama, Shemaroo, Discovery+, Aha and Lionsgate Play. The core purpose of the tool kit, IAMAI said, is to provide for procedures to bring into effect various provisions of the code but also address feedback received from the ministry of information and broadcasting, on the issues of conflict of interest and prohibited content.
The move comes at a time when the Centre has clearly stated its intent to bring out a regulation code for OTT platforms on the back of mounting complaints from sections of society and public officials.
In fact, union information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said in the Rajya Sabha last week that guidelines and directives for OTT platforms are almost ready and will be implemented soon. The government’s action comes in the wake of controversies around shows such as Tandav and Mirzapur 2, which have been panned for content that seemingly hurt religious and regional sentiments.
