CBFC chief for regulating OTT platforms

At the House Panel meeting he gave a presentation on the reforms carried out by the CBFC.

Over-the-top (OTT) platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and others need to be regulated, said Prasoon Joshi, chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), at a meeting of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information and Technology.

The committee, led by Shashi Tharoor, chairman of Congress, met on Wednesday on the agenda of a review of the functioning of the CBFC.

Mr. Joshi gave a presentation on the recent reforms of the CBFC, including reducing the average time it takes for the certification process.

He also noted that while the films made publicly available in movie theaters were regulated, the OTT platforms lacked similar checks and balances. The same content in the movie theater had to go through the CBFC, while it didn’t require approval if it was broadcast on the OTT platforms, he said.

For films intended for cinemas, the rules were different because the OTT platforms were viewed publicly and not individually.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has repeatedly indicated that these platforms should be subjected to structured monitoring.

Many members asked specific questions about the regulation of the OTT platforms, but Mr. Joshi had no answer.

BJP MP Nishikant Dueby pointed out that Singapore had managed to regulate the content of these platforms, an example India should follow.

Sumalatha Ambareesh’s suggestions

The Kannada actor and independent MP from Mandya Sumalatha Ambareesh, who is a member of the committee, argued that there should be no censorship. The board should only output “appropriate warnings” and can divide these into different display categories.

Ms. Ambareesh’s suggestions followed the recommendations of the Shyam Benegal Committee formed in 2016 to reform the CBFC.

Benegal had recommended that the CBFC should only be a film certification body, the scope of which should be limited to categorizing the suitability of the film for audiences based on age and maturity.

Before the Benegal Committee, the UPA government set up a committee under Justice Mukul Mudgal in 2013 with the same goal.

Mr. Joshi sought more time to answer why the government had not yet adopted the recommendations of one of these committees.

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