Initiate a public dialogue on the draft guidelines for OTT platforms, IAMAI asks government

Reacting to a report by Hindustan Times titled ‘Draft govt policy seeks 3-tier checks for OTTs’, Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the industry body for digital platforms, has asked the government to consult them before notifying any guidelines for OTT platforms.

“OTT streaming platform members of IAMAI were dismayed reading some media reports stating that the government intends to notify guidelines for OTT streaming platforms shortly. The industry has been working collectively to formalize transparent and stringent guidelines for Self-regulation, but has been completely perturbed by the lack of any consultative process administered with the stakeholders that usually proceeds such guidelines or regulations,” the industry body said in a press statement.

Recently, IAMAI in consultation with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting agreed to a Universal self-regulatory code that has been adopted by 17 of the leading Online Curated Content Platforms in India. The body committed to its speedy rollout through an ’Implementation Toolkit’.

“The self-regulatory code, which is under implementation, effectively delivers on the goal of providing strong consumer protection, while delivering a solid foundation for content providers to build from,” IAMAI said.

“Unfortunately, as things stand, as a responsible industry body and an ardent supporter of all Government policies and regulations, IAMAI is surprised to be not consulted on the draft guidelines for OCCPs that is being quoted in the media. Also, apart from the 17 OCC platforms that are signatories to IAMAI’s Universal Self-Regulation Code, there are producers, actors and other stakeholders who too should have been consulted before the guidelines are published. We firmly believe that regulations arrived at through wide stakeholder consultations are much more effective and more easily implementable,” it added.

IAMAI appealed to the concerned Ministry to consider initiating a public dialogue by inviting comments on the draft guidelines for OTT Streaming Platforms, as was done in the case of Personal Data Protection Bill, Non-personal Data Governance Framework and numerous other rules and regulations.

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