Regulation of OTT Platforms: Need for a Separate Legislation

Technological advancement has revolutionised the entertainment industry. Where television and movie theatres were the norm, today audiences much prefer Over The Top platforms like Amazon Prime and Hotstar that allow them to enjoy the same and additional content available in the comfort of their homes. Even when Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected business in the service sector, the popularity of the OTT medium soared with its easy accessibility and unique global content. This however does not mean that the transition from traditional media to OTT has been as smooth as it has been fast paced. Given its distinctive structure, OTT content has escaped various censorship norms and this has led to numerous controversies relating to the nature of content displayed. Consequently, the judiciary has tried to bridge the gap through judgements, content providers have committed to self-regulation codes and recently the government passed the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Despite this, regulation of OTT platforms continues to be a hotly debated topic as these steps are not the conclusion, rather they are the first steps towards the making of a codified legislation competent in dealing with the unique challenges posed by this medium.