New ethics code for OTT, digital media; all you need to know

Highlighting the need for an appropriate institutional mechanism for digital media and OTT platforms, the government has issued a digital media ethics code that will be administered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This Code of Ethics prescribes the guidelines to be followed by OTT platforms and online news and digital media entities.

To start with, OTT platforms, also called the publishers of online curated content in the rules, would have to self-classify the content into five age-based categories- U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult). Platforms would be required to implement parental locks for content classified as U/A 13+ or higher, and reliable age verification mechanisms for content classified as "A".

The publisher of online curated content shall prominently display the classification rating specific to each content or programme together with a content descriptor informing the user about the nature of the content, and advising on viewer description (if applicable) at the beginning of every programme enabling the user to make an informed decision, before watching the programme.

On the other hand, publishers of news on digital media would be required to observe Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council of India and the Programme Code under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act thereby providing a level playing field between the offline (Print, TV) and digital media.

A three-level grievance redressal mechanism has been established under the rules with different levels of self-regulation. Level-I will be self-regulation by the publishers; level II - self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of the publishers; and level III will be an oversight mechanism. Publisher shall appoint a Grievance Redressal Officer based in India who shall be responsible for the redressal of grievances received by it.

The officer shall decide on every grievance receives within 15 days.  There may be one or more self-regulatory bodies of publishers. Such a body shall be headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, a High Court or independent eminent person and have not more than six members. Such a body will have to register with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and will oversee the adherence by the publisher to the Code of Ethics and address grievances that have not be been resolved by the publisher within 15 days.

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting shall formulate an oversight mechanism. It shall publish a charter for self-regulating bodies, including Codes of Practices. It shall establish an Inter-Departmental Committee for hearing grievances.   

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting held consultations in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai over the last one and half years wherein OTT players have been urged to develop "self-regulatory mechanism". The Government also studied the models in other countries including Singapore, Australia, EU and UK and has gathered that most of them either have an institutional mechanism to regulate digital content or are in the process of setting-up one.

Also read: Netflix, Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video, other OTT platforms now in govt tightrope

Also read: New policy for social media, OTT platforms: Key highlights

Also read: Govt announces new guidelines for social media, aims to track down first originator of mischievous content