Clickbait can’t be the business model: I&B Secy Jaju’s ‘Sanskaari OTT’ warning to platforms

Mumbai: Calling for a “responsible” streaming ecosystem, Information & Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju on Tuesday said India’s OTT platforms must grow without diluting constitutional freedoms, but also without normalising clickbait, fake news or theft of intellectual property. 

“The fundamental right of expression under Article 19(1) lies at the heart of our Constitution, and all of us know how powerful this is. It should not get eroded because some people try to monetise content by generating clickbait and fake material,” he said during the 25th edition of FICCI Frames.

Positioning what he termed “sanskaari OTT” as “an important aspect of our lives,” Jaju framed the government’s stance as growth with great responsibility. 

He flagged three immediate priorities for the streaming economy: curbing misinformation, stamping out piracy, and ensuring fair distribution of revenues so content creators “get their due.”

Jaju said the ministry has set up working groups with industry and is building an application to act against pirated material, noting piracy’s “implications for national security and money laundering,” often routed via offshore entities. “Intellectual property lies at the core of any creative process… if the creator cannot monetise value, you will never get the content pipeline an ethical economy needs,” he said.

Beyond content safety, the Secretary spotlighted India’s expanding creative footprint and its policy ambition:

• Soft power & global reach: Indian stories now travel to 200+ countries, aided by subtitles and dubbing on global platforms. From Lagaan and Slumdog Millionaire to Dangal, Baahubali, RRR, The Elephant Whisperers and Kantara, he said, recent successes show “one language is common across civilisation, the language of emotions.”


• Scale & jobs: India’s media and entertainment sector has grown roughly tenfold in 25 years to about Rs 2.5 lakh crore, with film and TV reaching 80 crore people daily. The industry directly employs over 8 million and supports millions more, from cinema staff to cable operators and field stringers.


• Digital acceleration: Digital media is the fastest-growing segment, “almost twice the rate of the broader economy,” powered by affordable data in a mobile-first market.


• AVGC-XR surge: The Animation, VFX, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality segment is expanding at nearly 30% annually, emerging as India’s next frontier.


• Concert economy push: With artists such as Diljit Dosanjh and Arijit Singh selling out stadiums worldwide, the government wants to double the concert economy and is “easing the process of setting up concerts” domestically.


• Print & radio’s staying power: Despite digital’s rise, Jaju called print “credible and resilient” and said radio continues to command loyalty, from community stations to streaming playlists.


• Jaju linked FICCI’s agenda to the Prime Minister’s 2019 vision of an “orange economy, “not merely about entertainment, but ideas and imagination.” 

He recalled the government’s “Connecting creators, connecting countries” tagline, arguing that India’s creative industry is now a global bridge. “We have 10,000 stories; we’ve told only 25 so far,” he said, urging platforms to tap small-town and vernacular creators whose voices have surged in the digital age.

While insisting the challenges are real, Jaju rejected fatalism: “These are not obstacles; only reminders that our creative process should grow, but grow responsibly.”