CII welcomes toolkit for OTT self-regulation

The Confederation of Indian Industry has welcomed the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) toolkit for the implementation of the code of self-regulation of OTT platforms. This comes about even as the government will soon be bringing out a regulation code for OTT platforms.

The tool kit and draft has been drafted by the industry stakeholders, who are also members of the CII national committee on media and entertainment and CII sub-committee on OTT and digital content.

K Madhavan, chairman of CII national committee on media and entertainment and managing director of Star India Pvt Ltd and Disney India, said the industry is mature and responsible enough to keep necessary guidelines in mind while creating content. “It is committed to abiding by all safety features such as content descriptors, age classification, maturity rating and access controls,” he said.

The IAMAI said the purpose of the toolkit is to bring into effect various provisions of the Code, but also address feedback received from the ministry of information and broadcasting on the issues of conflict of interest and prohibited content.

17 streaming services came together under the ageis of the IAMAI to announce the adoption of an Implementation tool kit last week. The signatories include ZEE5, Viacom 18 (VOOT), Disney+Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, SonyLIV, MX Player, Jio Cinema, Eros Now, ALTBalaji, Arre, Hungama, Hoichoi, Shemaroo, Discovery Plus, and Lionsgate Play.

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15 OTT platforms had come together under the ageis of the IAMAI in September 2020 to sign a code ofself-regulation, formulating a framework for age classification, appropriate content description and access control. However, this was rejected by the ministry which asked the IAMAI to look at other mechanisms which allow for an independent monitoring organization like the Digital Curated Content Complaints Council, along with enumeration of prohibited content.

The Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar had said in the Rajya Sabha, last week, that guidelines and directives for OTT platforms are almost ready and will be implemented soon.