New Delhi: Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a PIL concerning the need for a regulatory board to monitor and manage over-the-top (OTT) and streaming platforms in India.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said, “This is the problem of PILs. They are all on policy now and we miss our genuine PILs.”
The plea has said that these platforms operate without the same checks and balances that traditional media — like films and TV — are subject to.
“Unlike films shown in theatres, OTT content doesn’t go through a certification process before release, which has led to a rise in explicit scenes, violence, substance abuse, and other harmful content, often without proper warnings,” said advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha who filed the plea.
The Union of India and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting introduced IT Rules 2021 to self-regulate OTT platforms however the same has been inefficient, the petition stated.
“These platforms continue to exploit loopholes, putting out controversial content unchecked, which has national security implications and promotes things like gambling and drugs,” he said.
The
petition is about preventing harm before it happens, not after, by ensuring there’s a body to regulate this content before it reaches the public, just like we have for movies and TV, Jha said.
OTT medium has become a tool to promote substances prohibited for advertisements viz gambling, liquor, drugs, smoking, etc. while using the loopholes, the petition alleged.
