The Government of India has brought video streaming over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video, Hotstar, and others under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- The notification, signed by President Ram Nath Kovind and issued on November 9, 2020, said government regulations would also apply to news on social media such Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
- These platforms were so far under the purview of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- Most OTT platforms generally offer some content for free and charge a monthly subscription fee for premium content which is generally unavailable elsewhere.
- OTT platforms are classified as digital media or social media, had little to no regulation on the choice of content they offered, the subscription rates, certification for adult movies and others.
What will change?
- The first challenge before the OTT platforms would be keeping a check on their content.
- These platforms would have to apply for certification and approval of the content they wish to stream.
