In the midst of legal heat against Amazon over the show, Tandav on its Prime Video platform, OTT platforms on Thursday asked Information and Broadcasting Ministry to give them relief from FIRs and court cases, especially as the new rules now prescribe a 3-tier regulatory structure, including an oversight mechanism of the government.

OTT players such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and several others that are members of industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India met with I&B minister Prakash Javadekar to discuss the new IT rules for social media platforms, OTT platforms and digital media that were notified by the government last week.

Among the concerns that were raised by the industry was the increasing cases of FIRs against the platform and content makers. Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the companies have asked that complaints against any content should be resolved through the three-tier grievance redressal mechanism in place and that FIRs should not be resorted to.

IAMAI and some OTT players did not respond to specific queries.

The new rules put in place three-levels of regulation and grievance redressal: a self-regulating mechanism by the platform, a self-regulating industry body headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge or an eminent person from the industry, and finally an oversight mechanism, which will involve an inter-departmental committee constituted by the I&B Ministry for hearing grievances. In certain cases, an authorised officer of the Ministry can also issue directions on regulating content.

The OTT players have also sought an extension on complying with the rules, stating that they will need more time to classify all the content on their platform, as has been directed in the rules to identify content for child and adult viewing. OTT platforms have also been asked to put in place parental locks for content not suitable for children.

Amazon Prime Video earlier this week issued an apology for certain objectionable scenes in its web series Tandav and said that it had removed or edited some of the scenes.

The company is facing multiple FIRs from the Uttar Pradesh police for some objectionable scenes in the web series.

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)

First Published:Mar 4, 2021 8:49 PM IST