Parliamentary Panel Demands Ban on Obscene Content by OTT Platforms

Members of a parliamentary panel reportedly asked executives of several industry players, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney + Hotstar, to refrain from showing obscenities on their platforms and respect the country’s cultural sensitivities on Monday (May 15), at a time when there is an intense debate about the use of abusive language in content on over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

According to ET, top officials from major streaming businesses were deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communication and Technology.

Shiv Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav chairs the panel, which also includes legendary actor and Trinamool Congress (TMC) politician Shatrughan Sinha. According to the report, Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Secretary Apurva Chandra, as well as other ministry officials, attended the meeting.

Other problems discussed during the conference were piracy and the necessity to put OTT services under the purview of the Cinematograph Act. According to reports, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram has stated that piracy must be dealt with harshly.

More crucially, the panel wanted information on the money made by these platforms in India, as well as how much of that revenue was reinvested. The OTT platforms are required to provide written responses to the panel’s inquiries.