A policy paper on the future of India’s entertainment industry by FTII chief Shekhar Kapur and others has said that India can occupy a dominant position in the OTT landscape by allowing creative freedom and encouraging industry standards to help provide viewers with information about content, allowing them to make their own viewing choices. The paper, published by policy think-tank Esya Centre, has been co-authored by CBFC Board member Vani Tripathi Tikoo, lawyer Akshat Agarwal and Esya Centre advisor Vivan Sharan.
The paper comes at a time when the I & B ministry has ordered that all digital content in the areas of both, news and entertainment, should be brought under its jurisdiction, triggering concerns of censorship. It may be mentioned here that the government had earlier asserted that OTT paltforms should be allowed to self-regulate. In India, 15 OTT platforms had earlier this year come together as signatories for adopting a Universal Self-Regulation Code, and they had even agreed to set up up a Digital Content Complaints Committee on the lines of a similar committee for broadcast content, but it was rejected by the government on the ground that there was no clear code of ethics and that the definition of prohibited content was also unclear.
The OTT platforms are expected to become a Rs. 12,000 crore market by 2023. “To achieve the desired outcomes for India’s creative sector, the country needs to effect three important transformations: promoting creative freedom, digital products and devices, and levelling the playing field at all levels of the creative supply chain,” says the paper.