With significant discontent from the industry, the representative body for Internet companies has developed a self-regulatory Digital Curated Content Complaint Council (DCCC) to receive complaints on online content such as video streaming. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) announced the “Self Regulation for Online Curated Content Providers” on Wednesday, naming Hotstar, Voot, Jio, and SonyLiv as signatories. The code, accessed by The Indian Express, states that signatories will not make available “content which promotes and encourages disrespect to the sovereignty and integrity of India” or “promotes and encourages terrorism and other forms of violence against the State (of India) or its institutions”. In an earlier version of the code released February 2019 that did not include the DCCC, many more companies had signed on, including Netflix, Zee5, Arre, ALT Balaji and Eros Now. However, several relevant companies did not sign that version either, including Amazon Prime and YouTube. One company told The Indian Express that IAMAI has been informally warning platforms that the government will be releasing their own content regulation and hence, the industry should develop a self-regulation code to preempt any need for government regulation. However, several stakeholders have complained that the body conducted no consultations on this mechanism, resulting in a code that is not representative of the industry as a whole. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has been meeting with industry members regarding regulation of online video content. Many companies contend that the existing laws regulating them are sufficient, that IAMAI should be resisting further government regulation rather than self-regulating, and that the enhanced grievance mechanism would lead to increased government pressure to self-censor video content online. In 2018, a plea in the Delhi High Court sought to remove scenes in Netflix’s Sacred Games, alleging that the show “incorrectly depicts historical events of the country like the Bofors case, the Shah Bano case, the Babri Masjid case and communal riots”. In court, the Information Technology Ministry put the onus on the companies themselves and refused to set up a grievance redressal mechanism for “over-the-top” (OTT) media services as it would be “in violation of the mandate of the Constitution.” The code creates the DCCC to oversee adherence to the code and receive external complaints from the Ministries of Information and Technology, Information and Broadcasting, and the National Consumer Helpline of India. The DCCC is a nine-member body with a retired Supreme Court or High court judge as the chairperson, three experienced industry members, three signatory members, and three members from National level Statutory Commissions (such as the National Commission for Women or Schedule Caste or Human Rights Commission). The code creates a “Online Curated Content Providers Governing Council” (OCCP Governing Council) with one representative from each signatory. The OCCP Governing Council appoints the members of the DCCC. If the DCCC finds any content of a signatory to contradict the code, it may direct the signatory to reclassify content, include a warning, or edit content summaries. The DCCC may impose a financial penalty up to Rs 3 lakh in “exceptional cases involving recurring violations”. The code also requires signatories to categorise content with age-appropriate audiences and enable parental controls.
