If one may recall, back in Janaury, 2019 Indian-based OTT (Over-The-Top) platforms such as Netflix India, Hotstar, Jio, Voot, Zee5, Arre, SonyLIV, ALT Balaji and Eros Now agreed on a self-imposed censorship code which meant they would not be showing content such as disrespect to the national emblem and flag, promoting religious sentiment, terrorism or violence, showing children in sexual acts among other things.

These regulations were was drafted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in order to protect consumer interest while not taking away from the freedom of content creators. Prime Video of Amazon decided to not be a part of this agreement as OTT players are legally not bound to regulate/censor content. However, this scenario is changing for the government of India seems to mulling over the idea of legally introducing censorship rules to these platforms. 

I&B minister Prakash Javadekar has invited suggestions and recommendations for implementing the same and this has opened up a debate of whether or not censorship is required in the first place for these platforms. The Lede quotes Manoj Paramahamsa, co-producer and cinematographer of Auto Shankar, vehemently objecting to the same and stating,

“On OTT platforms, I have the right to say something, which anyway does not reach the general public the way mainstream cinema reaches them...If it is adult content like sex and violence that the censor board is worried about, they (OTT platforms) can make the access even more restricted with passcodes to access such content,”

Director Vetrimaaran on the other hand agrees on the creative freedom being curtailed part and has said, “What is understood is that the alternate narrative is being suppressed. The system does not like this alternate narrative and they try to frame the discourse. But we need to have the freedom to discuss it. Let the people view the content and come to conclusions,”

The widespread debate is that the government found a need to introduce this new censorship because of series like Sacred Games and Ghoul which are known to have narratives against political parties like the BJP and religious groups like the RSS. The Hindutva groups are also said to have been triggered by the anti-Hindu narrative on the Netflix shows Leila and The Patriot Act.