The Supreme Court yesterday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) concerning the need for a regulatory board to monitor and manage over-the-top (OTT) and streaming platforms in India.

An ANI report from New Delhi quoted a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, as saying, “This is the problem of PILs. They are all on policy now and we miss our genuine PILs.”

The plea has said that these platforms operate without the same checks and balances that traditional media — like films and TV — are subject to.

“Unlike films shown in theatres, OTT content doesn’t go through a certification process before release, which has led to a rise in explicit scenes, violence, substance abuse, and other harmful content, often without proper warnings,” said advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha who filed the plea.

The Union of India and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting introduced IT Rules 2021 to self-regulate OTT platforms however the same has been inefficient, the petition stated.

“These platforms continue to exploit loopholes, putting out controversial content unchecked, which has national security implications and promotes things like gambling and drugs,” he said.

The petition is about preventing harm before it happens, not after, by ensuring there’s a body to regulate this content before it reaches the public, just like we have for movies and TV, Jha said.

OTT medium has become a tool to promote substances prohibited for advertisements viz gambling, liquor, drugs, smoking, etc. while using the loopholes, the petition alleged.

The plea raised the issue of the absence of any law or autonomous body governing the digital content saying it has made these digital contents available to the public at large without any filter or screening.

The petition sought directions for the establishment of a proper board/institution/association for the monitoring and management of content on different OTT/streaming and digital media platforms.

“OTT/streaming and different digital media platforms have surely given a way out for filmmakers and artists to release content without being worried about getting clearance certificates for films and series from the censor board,” it added.

He further sought direction to the Central government to constitute an autonomous body/board to monitor and filter the contents and regulate the videos on various platforms for viewers in India.

The board must be headed by an IAS officer of secretary level and shall further have members from varied fields including movie, cinematographic, media, defence, legal field and field of education, he asked.

“The lack of a certification board for OTT platforms creates an unlevel playing field between traditional media (cinemas and television) and digital streaming services. While traditional media is subjected to stringent regulations, OTT platforms on the other hand operate in a largely unregulated environment, allowing them to bypass content restrictions that are otherwise mandatory for other media. That this lack of regulatory parity is arbitrary and unjustifiable,” added the petition.