Digital Content And OTT Platforms Streaming Under I&B Ministry

On the 11th of November, the Central Government issued an order bringing online mediums of information under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The issued order read, “This is simply bringing ‘content’ from under the purview of IT to I&B. OTT though is a new platform, where concern against content couldn’t be raised with the Government earlier, which will now be possible. I&B now will be the nodal ministry.”

According to the issued order, the Central Government would monitor all the content of online platforms including films and news content.

The orders were implemented after the President of India Ram Nath Kovind signed the orders.

On the 9th of November, Mr. Kovind signed the order to include online films, digital news and current affairs content under the purview of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry headed by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.

At present, the Press Council of India looks after the print media, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) takes care of the news channels, the Advertising Standards Council of India is for advertising while the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) monitors films.

However, Mr. Javadekar cleared the decision would not affect freedom of the media, but would govern the content being delivered to the public with some guidelines and regulations.

With this, all the online streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar and such, would now be governed by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of India.

Stay tuned for further updates.