1.Introduction

The suppression of information or limitations on the dissemination of ideas within a community imposed by a dominant group is commonly referred to as censorship.Regulation of content can be done by government, private organizations according to the legal framework of the country due to variety of reasons like disagreements over political or religious beliefs, violence,obscene,inappropriate or explicit content. Any party with legal authority can censor a wide range of media, including radio broadcasts, movies, books, artwork, photographs, theater plays, and internet websites.[1]One of the fundamental rights of a liberal democracy is the freedom of speech whereas censorship refers to the practice of placing restrictions on the use of one's right to free speech violating our fundamnetal right.The OTT platforms have no regulatory body over them to control the content streamed, and consequently enjoy their freedom unlike the regulations ususally faced by the TV platforms.Indian OTT viewrship is around 43 million and is expected to rise to 50 million by the end of 2023.Since the rise of OTT shows,various interest groups have protested remove content that they find objectionable leading to many controversies.Ministory Of Information and Technology after later establishes self-regulation code and a grievance redressal mechanism regarding OTT censorship.

2.Petition for censorship on OTT content with a pre-screening committee

Recently,on November 23,2020 the Supreme Court dismisess a writ petition by Sujeet Kumar Singh who was a resident of Mirzapur,Uttar Pradesh in India regarding the ban of Mirzapur 2 web series as he felt that this show was insulting and demeaning the city.The bench consisted of Just Chief Justice U.U.Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi who heard the plea,dismissed this petittion which further asked for pre-screening of the OTT films,web series all other content that is going to be realsed on Digital Streaming Platforms by few committee members.Justice U.U.Lalit remarked that "What information is needed to determine which statutory provision is applicable for pre-exhibition censorship"?[2]Union Ministry of Information Broadcasting was also consulted by the apex court and they agreed with this desicion saying that few memebers of the pre-screening cannot watch all the episodes of the innumerable web-series and movies which are being relased daily in the digital platforms not just in India but all over the world and decide on the censorship of the content.

3.Central Regulation on Digital Platforms

The objections by many people regarding abusive,inappropriate language,trigerring and obscene content potrayed in the the films and series on OTT have been increasing in the last few years.Anurag Thakur,Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting adressed this issue saying that "It will not be accepted to abuse someone in the name of creativity. Concerns regarding an increase in offensive and abusive content on OTT platforms are taken seriously by the government. The ministry will also take that into consideration should any modifications to the regulations pertaining to this be necessary,"[3].

Due to many controversial shows like Tandav and Mirzapur and platforms like Amazon Prime video,Netflix faced major backlash due to F.I.R cases and the government was pressurised for improvised regulations for censorship of the OTT content.Prakash Javadekar who was the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting has aslo given a sttaemnt saying that new guidelines for regulation of OTT Digital Platforms are being contemplated by the Ministry.Indian government has also given the power to the Internet and mobile association of India (IAMAI) to self-regulate and monitor the content.Digital Content Complaints Council (DCCC) was established under Internet and mobile association of India (IAMAI) to self-regulate the streaming of content on various streaming platforms including OTT platforms.Later in 2021,Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules were introduced which were evolved from The Draft Intermediaries Rules from December, 2018.[4]

4.Information Technology (IntermediaryGuidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021

An amendment to the IT Rules 2021 that would further tighten the Internet filtering regime was recently proposed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The government also wanted to create institutional mechanisma to regulate digital content just like in countries like Europe, Australia,Singapore, and the UK.The government wanted to establish the guidelines and legislative framework required regulate odscenes,triggering content that may promote things like rape,gangrape,etc.. from content hosting platforms and other apps and hold them legally responsible.Although these rules were also seen by many people as violation of their freedom of speech, expression and by giving Government the final arbiter power to censor what content to be not censored and what content to be censored or removed.The governmant wantes the regulations pertaining to digital media and over-the-top (OTT) content prioritize internal and self-regulation mechanisms, which prioritize the provision of a strong grievance redressal system while maintaining journalistic and creative freedom.They wanted the legislative framework to be liberal,progressive that clear the misconceptions of restricting expression and creativity.

According to the rules, the OTT platform should categorize the content into different age groups which include U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult). Platforms should prominently display the categorization rating assigned to each piece of content also diplaying its nature and put age verification systems for content rated as "A" and parental locks for content rated as U/A 13+ or higher.There is a three-tiered grievance redressal process

• Self-regulation by the applicable entity (Level I ) - Within fifteen days after receivinng of the grieveince,the Publisher will designate an Indian-based Grievance Redressal Officer to find the resolution.
• Self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of the applicable entities(Level II) - If failure of Level I process than a retired Supreme Court judge/ High Court judge, or an independent distinguished body with no more than six members will supervise the publication's compliance with the Code of Ethics after registering with MIB.
• Oversight mechanism by the Central Government (Level III) -Ministry of Information and Broadcasting(MIB) will release a sanction with codes of practice for self-regulatory organizations and establish an Inter-Departmental to address grievances if Level II of self regulation of self regulated bodies was also not successful in adressing the grieviences.[5]

5.Conclusion

Censorship can be both a boon or a bane depending on the circumstances.It can be viewed as a certified regulation for banning objectionable,obscene content from young audiences, as well as to stop hate speech and misinformation from spreading or it can be viewed as restricting to one freedom of speech by blocking the roots of creativity.If censorship can ever be justified in a Democracy,it is only when its groundings are open to public scrutiny as it can be used as a weapon for social or political control for suppressing political dissent in the country. The definition of different peoples opinion of objectionable content will absolutely differ hence,the redressal for grieviances may not be able to succesfully do justice in determining the content which should be rightfully censored because it is for preserving public decency; preventing the normalization of undesirable content through its use in entertainment or other forms of dissemination; and ensuring that all people(including vilnarable minority communities)are not offended by the display of content to which the majority of reasonable adults would object.Governmnet should find ways in censoring content without sacrifising as much human's freedom to rightfully express themselves as possible.

Citations

1.Devon Denomme;"Censorship in Television | History Practices",available at https://study.com/learn/lesson/censored-tv-overview-examples-censorship-in-television.html ( December 6,2023)

2.OTT Censorship:Supreme Court dismisses the plea of seeking censorship on OTT content with a screening committee;available at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/94858786.cmsutm_source=contentofinterestutm_medium=textutm_campaign=cppstpcode=461 (Decemebr 6,2023)

3."OTT content to be censored ?govt assures strict action against obscenity and abuse",available at https://www.timesnownews.com/india/ott-content-to-be-censored-govt-assures-strict-action-against-obscenity-and-abuse-article-98775292 (December 6,2023)
4."Explainer:How the New IT Rules Take Away Our Digital Rights",available at https://thewire.in/tech/explainer-how-the-new-it-rules-take-away-our-digital-rights (Decemebr 3,2023)

5."Government notifies Information Technology (IntermediaryGuidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021",available at https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1700749 (Decemebr 6,2023)