Supreme Court rejects plea for independent OTT regulator

The apex court clarified that such regulatory decisions require extensive consultation with various stakeholders

by e4m Staff
Published: Oct 18, 2024 2:36 PM | 1 min read

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) requesting the establishment of an independent authority to oversee, filter, and regulate content on over-the-top (OTT) platforms and similar digital services in India. The court emphasized that these concerns lie within the purview of policy-making, which is the responsibility of the executive branch.

A bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, along with Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, clarified that such regulatory decisions require extensive consultation with various stakeholders.

"This is the problem of PILs. They are all on policy (matters) now and we miss out genuine PILs," reports quoted the CJI.

Advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha, who had filed the PIL, requested permission to withdraw the petition, expressing his intention to raise the concerns directly with the relevant Union ministry.

The petition cited the Netflix series "IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack" as an example, arguing for the necessity of a regulatory framework, given that the platform presented the content as being based on real events.

It further noted that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) serves as a statutory body regulating the public exhibition of films under the Cinematograph Act, implying the need for a similar mechanism to oversee content on OTT platforms.