Is it time to introduce some regulations on the OTT platforms in India?

OTT platforms have emerged as a key player in the entertainment industry and are giving tough competition to the cable operators especially, these have become the favourites among youth. But over the recent months, the OTT platforms have become the center of debate due to various scenes which have raised a question mark on the content that are being presented.

 

The controversy of ALTBalaji and Ekta Kapoor

ALTBalaji is an Indian subscription based OTT platform which is owned by the subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms ltd whose founder is Ekta Kapoor. Now ALTBalaji among its other contents, is mostly popular for its XXX web series which is primarily an adult series and is filled with sex scenes in every episode with little or zero focus on storyline. In the recently released season of the series, the Indian Army uniform was involved in a sex scene in which it was disrespectfully torn, and this sparked controversy and nationwide protests.

 

The Patal Lok controversy

Patal Lok is a Hindi web series which premiered o 15^th May 2020 in Amazon Prime Video co-produced by Anushka Sharma. This has sparked controversy from different religious and caste quarters as well as political leaders.

The Sikh community has objected about a sex scene involving “Amritdhari Sikhs” and spoke about hurting Sikh and Hindus’ religious sentiments alike. There have also been an alleged attack on “Gurjars” who are a predominant caste in western Uttar Pradesh. It did not end with this, there are also scenes which involved sexist slur for the “Gorkha” community who speak Nepali.

 

Recent controversy of Krishna web series in Netflix

“Krishna and his leela” is a new Telugu romantic web series featured in Netflix which shows the main character Krishna having multiple sexual partners including a girl named Radha. This has attracted several negative opinions on the show on the basis that it actually depicts the Hindu goddess Krishna and has hurt the sentiments of people believing in Hinduism.

Apart from the above series stated, time and again there have been several web series which has led to controversies from various sections and communities of people.

 

Why contents of the OTT platforms needs to be filtered?

Smart phone devices and computers are now accessible to all the age groups through which various apps are just a button click away. In the previous article, we have discussed how the OTT platforms have become a popular source of entertainment for the tech savvy young generation.

So why should we worry about?

It is very important to understand the difference between reel and real life. For adults, they know the boundaries and the contents presented in the shows or any entertainment medium is fictional. But for a kid who is not mature enough to differentiate between the two worlds might fascinate something which has violence in it. We all know that the contents which have negative impact attracts the most. A kid with a digital device, be it mobile or laptop needs a parental guidance to make them understand what is wrong and right, it’s not possible for the parents to monitor their kids all the time. It’s not a new thing that kids have been often involved in crimes.

It’s has become a normal thing in OTT platforms to showcase abusive languages, rape scenes and murders which many kids might find it cool. Agreeing to the fact that adults have their right to decide what to watch and what not to, but along with that we should let the kid to be mature enough to about the content that are seeing and later they are open to watch anything they want.

 

Why certifications used in case of films won’t feasible

Films are regulated by the relevant authority and screened before they are being released. Based on the scenes shown, they are categorized into three sections-----“U” which are meant for kids, “U/A” which can be watched both by adults and kids, “A” which are meant for adults.

Now for films with certification as “A”, kids below a certain age group are not allowed to enter the hall and are scrutinized by using their ID card. Now in case of digital platforms, there is no restriction to sign up or log in to the page, even if there was, it’s easy to provide false declaration of one’s age. Hence usage of OTT platforms is very difficult to restrict based on the age until it is mandatory to submit ID card upon signing up on the platforms.

 

Conclusion:

With various commercial films releasing in the OTT platforms, the apps will only get bigger with time but at the same time, there needs to be proper screening of the contents. The right to watch anything does not mean that any content is watchable for any type of audience, and if it was so, then there would not have been any certifications for the films, nor there would have existed any “Board of Certification”.

Also the content makers need to realize the fact that whatever their creation should not hurt the sentiments of any section of people. Freedom of speech and expression does not mean that someone can say anything they want, especially when a large audience is watching their show or film, they have certain responsibility towards the society as well.

What do you think on the issue?