BREAKING: News Portals and content providers to be brought under Govt regulations

NEW DELHI: The government of India on November 9 issued an order bringing online news portals and content providers such as Netflix under the Information and Broadcasting ministry. This is being seen as a move to regulate the content of digital media. This move has been effected amid ongoing crackdowns against 'hate speech' on social media.

Presently, digital media is the only form of media contet that is not being regulated right now. The Press Council of India takes care of the print media, and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) monitors news channels.

Last month, the Supreme Court sought the centre's response on a petition for regulating OTT platforms by an autonomous body.

OTT platforms include news portals and also streaming services such as Hotstar, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, which are accessible over the internet or ride on an operator's network.

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The petition had said that OTT/Streaming and different digital media platforms have given a way out for film makers and artists to release their content without being worried about getting clearance certificates for their films and series from the censor board.

Earlier, the Information and Broadcasting ministry had told the apex court in a separate case that there is a need to regulate digital media and that the court may first appoint a committee of persons as amicus before laying down guidelines to this effect.

Last year, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that the government will not take any step that may curb media freedoms.