Enacted IT Rules 2021 after receiving several complaints regarding content on OTT platforms: Centre's reply in plea for regulatory body

The Central government has informed the Supreme Court that the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 were put in place after it received several complaints from civil society and politicians alike regarding the content on online streaming platforms..The Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting averred the same in its affidavit filed in reply to the plea by Advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha praying for the establishment of a Central Board for Regulation and Monitoring of Online Video Contents (CBRMOV) to monitor, filter and regulate content on Over the Top (OTT) platforms..The affidavit states that Centre had amended the allocation of business of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting through an amendment in the Allocation of Business Rules, 1961. Through a gazette notification dated November 9, 2020, it has brought within the purview of the I&B Ministry:VA. Digital/online media22. FIlms and audio-visual programmes made available by online content providers23. News and current affairs content on online platforms..Subsequently, the Centre notified the IT Rules, 2021, which aim to regulate content on OTT platforms and to impose a code of ethics for online publishers of news media..It is thus stated that here is a mechanism for regulation of OTT platforms under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the recently notified IT Rules, 2021..In reply to the petitioner's contention that there is a lack of rules to prohibit obscene content, the Centre has stated that provisions of the IT Act are in place to deal with the same. These proceedings are in the nature of criminal proceedings and are based on complaints filed with police authorities, it is stated. It is clarified that these provisions do not serve as a guide on what content can be published on such platforms..Thus, the Centre has stated that since it has a mechanism in place to regulate online content on OTT platforms, there is no reason for Jha's plea to survive..In October last year, a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde had asked the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) to respond to Jha's petition..Jha sought a direction from the top court to the government to set up a body for monitoring content on different OTT/streaming and digital media platforms.“With cinemas unlikely to open anytime soon in the country, OTT/streaming and different digital media platforms have surely given a way out to filmmakers and artistes to release their content without getting any clearance certificate from the censor board,” Jha had submitted in his plea..During an earlier hearing in February, CJI Bobde initially asked the petitioner to withdraw the plea and make a representation before the government. However, the petitioners insisted that it be tagged with a pending plea.