Centre issues guidelines for Social media & OTT platforms: Here's why it was required

Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar and Ravi Shankar Prasad Thursday held a press conference at National Media Centre in New Delhi to issue guidelines for social media, digital media, and OTT platforms. With the rise in FIRs filed against web series, concerns being raised each day for 'unintentionally hurting the sentiments' and rampant abuse of social media platform, the Centre issued 'reasonable and responsible' regulations.

Here's looking at some recent controversies that foreshadowed to this step by the Centre —

Tandav Controversy

Amazon Prime Video's Tandav series was accused of hurting religious sentiments for its depiction of Hindu deities. Tandav, a nine-episode political thriller starring Bollywood biggies- Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, became the centre of controversy over a scene with Zeeshan Ayyub, in the role of college student Shiva, playing the Hindu god Mahadev in a theatre production. As the controversy escalated, the show makers tried to defuse the situation and removed the controversial portion from the show.

The makers and actors were booked in Lucknow under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, and so on), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 501 (1)(B) (public mischief with intent to cause fear or alarm) of the IPC and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.

Centre says Netflix movie 'Gunjan Saxena' depicts IAF in a bad light

Centre and IAF filed a plea seeking a stay on the broadcast, telecast, digital, or OTT release as well as theatre release of Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl claiming that it maligns the 'dignity and reputation' of the IAF. They also said that the film's portrayal of IAF shows practices of gender biases which 'damages the IAF's reputation' and no NOC has been taken from IAF by the film producers.

They further contended that the film was not shown to the preview committee and no MoU was signed before the release which is a general practice. Delhi HC refused to grant an interim stay on the broadcast of the film based on Gunjan Saxena's life while asking Dharma Productions Private Limited, Karan Yash Johar, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, Netflix, and others to file a response on the Centre and IAF's plea against the film. 

AK vs AK controversy

The Indian Air Force took objection to the "inaccurately" donned uniform of the force as well as the language used in the trailer of Anil Kapoor starrer Netflix movie AK vs AK. Anil Kapoor later took to his Twitter handle to share a video and tendered an apology for the same. Kapoor also explained why he is wearing the uniform and the reason behind using the 'unparliamentary language.'

In a tweet, the Indian Air Force (IAF) said: "related scenes" are needed to be withdrawn. "The IAF uniform in this video is inaccurately donned & the language used is inappropriate. This does not conform to the behavioral norms of those in the Armed Forces of India. The related scenes need to be withdrawn. @NetflixIndia @anuragkashyap72," the IAF tweeted.

In the trailer, Kapoor is seen donning an untucked trademark blue full sleeve shirt of the IAF. In one of the dialogues, Kapoor used cuss words. Content platform Netflix too apologized and wrote, "Hon. @IAF_MCC, our intention would never be to disrespect the Armed Forces of India in any regard. AK Vs. AK is a film in which Anil Kapoor and his co-stars are playing themselves as actors."

Other OTT shows

Huma Qureshi starrer Leila was criticised as it hurt Hindu sentiments by promoting Hinduphobia. Popular series such as Sacred Games, A Suitable Boy and Mirzapur among several others that have ended up in court cases.

Centre to release OTT platform guidelines; tentative rules for Netflix, Hotstar & co here

Abuse of Social Media

Social media's potential to proliferate and amplify fake news and special interests has been spoken about at the world stage, and India is hardly an exception. Social media giants are at loggerheads with governments here as they are abroad and a study of some of the reasons reflects a definite sense of double-standards in terms of rules. 

Over the past months, WhatsApp and Twitter have been called out by the Government of India -  the IT Ministry in particular - for such double standards. WhatsApp has put on hold a privacy policy update for India that it hasn't tried to impose on its users in Europe, for instance, whereas Twitter has shown reluctance to suspend anti-India handles that spread dangerous rumours and instigated on-ground rioting on Republic Day in New Delhi, but has no qualms about shutting out then sitting US President Donald Trump on account of the Capitol Hill riot from the first week of January.

Facebook has also come in for its fair share of criticism and controversy, especially in Australia where it blocked news publishing on account of the government insisting it pay news publishers for posting their content. While Facebook contended that it provides reach, for which it put forth a huge money value without adequately explaining why. The stand-off between Australia and Facebook, which has witnessed a thaw on Thursday following negotiations and compromises on both sides, is likely being watched and studied across the globe.

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