Ott? Sounds familiar right? But have you ever wondered what it stands for? Or what does it mean? Personally, I never did. But researching for this article I found out it stands for OVER-THE-TOP media, which basically surpasses the traditional distributors and provides entertainment directly via the internet. it’s a place where people can enjoy their entertainment in comfort situation without even waiting for break time.
Well before starting this topic, we must have a clear understanding of what Censorship and Regulation mean individually.
- Censorship – Censorship is an act of suppressing speech, public communication, or other acts, that may be harmful, objectionable, or sensitive to the user.
- Regulation – Regulation is an act of controlling things by making active and pressing penalties on the individual or the content.
Sounds similar right? Fret not you are not alone. In simple words, Regulation is controlling the media with existing rules, and Censorship is editing or removing harmful media completely.
Censorship and regulation on ott content is said to be a violation of ott platforms’ right to speech. Although many NGOs have come forward to pressurize the government into making a regulatory body like the existing one for nonnew channels.
Many times issues have been raised about ott shows being political. We have quite a few examples of that.
For example, Netflix shows Sacred games which made headlines for making speculative lines on former congress leader Rajeev Gandhi.
John Oliver on Hotstar got criticism for criticizing pm of India Narendra Modi and bashing CAA. Which ultimately resulted in the show’s removal from the platform.
As per a survey by Yuvgov, 57% of people supported partial censorship on streaming platforms. Even censorship also exists in mainstream cinema.
Ott provides a better opportunity for the creativity of people who can’t afford mainstream cinema.
Ott is a rising platform with 21.8% of viewers joining annually. This media is consumed rapidly with so much interest that many low-budget films end up gaining so much popularity that most of them also get recognition worldwide.
Countries like Singapore and UK have their own regulatory body while countries like turkey, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia have strict regulatory rules.
Tigmanshu Dhulia who played an important role in ‘Tandav’ said ” India is a very peculiar country and needs censorship” films are censored but ott is not and makers add unnecessary sex scenes. Which he doesn’t agree with.
Veteran actor Deepti naval said “one has to keep in mind that the content they are making is for a family audience”
If there are arguments against ott then there are arguments in favor too.
Jaideep Alhawat said, “if 18-year-olds can decide who they want to vote for then they can decide what they want to watch too”.
Jaideep’s co-star in palatal Lok Abhishek Banerjee said “the audience is smart enough to understand what’s good and what’s bad for them”.
Technology rules 2021 to regulate ott platforms
Last year in February, the government notifies information technology rules 2021 to regulate ott platforms. They provide self-classification of content without any involvement of any upper body. These rules just prohibit the publishing of any content which violates any laws governing India. Ott content should consider India’s multi-regional and multi-cultural heritage and try not to harm any sentiments. Ott should also mark the content rating properly with proper viewer discretion.
Many people believe their right to speech is being restricted by the new regulations but as an individual, we must understand how much diversity we have in our culture that calls for various religious sentiments. If they are harmed, even riots are possible. Even though the content may be age-rated but teenagers can easily access content that they are not meant to see. It may be gore or vulgar. No parents want their children to be exposed to such an environment. This creates a stir between them and wants regulation.
Vulgar scenes are common in international media. If not in Indian media. These types of movies or series are immensely popular among teenagers and a source of boasting whether they watched the show or not. Even when the show is rated, teenagers need an I’d to watch whatever they want. Most of the time parents don’t even know how to create a kid’s profile or impose restrictions. So having features are just like mere jewels which adorn our lockers.
Conclusion:
In my personal opinion having a regulatory body was a necessary step to control what we feed to our audience and how they react to it. Although The regulation should be partial not excess invading the creativity of the people involved.
Suggested Reads; How has OTT changed Indian media? ,Comparison of OTT platforms , Review of reality shows on OTT platforms ,Future of mainstream media- Ott or electronic media
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