Supreme Court on “IT Rules 2021” to regulate OTT platforms

What is the News?

The Supreme Court has expressed dissatisfaction with the new IT rules 2021 to regulate content on Over the Top(OTT) platforms.

What was the case?

• The Supreme Court is hearing a plea filed by Amazon Prime’s Commercial Head. The plea is challenging the Allahabad High Court Judgment denying her pre-arrest bail in the criminal cases registered in connection with the web series “Tandav”.

What were the observations made by the Supreme Court? The Supreme Court has said that the Government’s Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules,2021 to regulate the OTT (over-the-top) platforms has several problems such as:

Read more: IT rules 2021

• The rules are more in the nature of guidelines.
• There is no effective mechanism for the screening of the content shown by OTTs.
• The rules also do not have enough powers to punish the violators.

What did the Government say?

• The Government has agreed to consider drafting new regulations or even legislate a law to address the concerns raised by the court about OTT platforms.

Source: The Hindu

Clarification on IT Rules, 2021 for OTT Platforms