Television and radio were the only sources of entertainment some years ago. But the Internet has brought a revolution in every sector and industry. The rise of the internet has given birth to multiple sources of entertainment. Apart from social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Youtube has become the largest online video sharing platform where people enjoy movies, trailers, and songs. But in the last couple of years, Over the Top (OTT ) platform is leading the race in the entertainment world. 55% of Indians prefer OTT platforms because they want to enjoy very popular and amazing national and international content directly via the internet. Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hotstar are leading and the most preferred OTT platforms in India. Their popularity has put the future of single-screen theatres and multiplexes in danger. But the popularity of online video streaming services has given rise to a never-ending debate of censorship. There is a growing demand in India to censor the content and bring all the OTT platforms under the regulations of Indian censorship laws.
OTT platforms and Censorship
There was a huge craze of OTT platforms when they arrived in the entertainment market. They were loved and welcomed by the Indian audience who were fed up with the mediocre content and repeated stories in Indian movies and TV dramas. Netflix backed and presented solid content-driven movies and web series like the Game of Thrones, Anurag Kayshap’s violent crime drama Sacred games, and some others which were critically acclaimed by the critics and audience. But the content was not censored and all the movies and dramas were full of adult content and
Violence. Such types of adult and sexual content can be harmful to children and people below 18 years of age. That’s why parents are demanding regulatory law to censor the content on OTT platforms. But you will be surprised to know that the content on online streaming platforms cannot be censored. India’s censor law is only for films and has no laws and regulations for censoring the content of online streaming platforms like Netflix.
Online Streaming Content needs to be censored
Gone are the days when the dramas and movies were influenced by our great Indian culture and were complete family entertainers. Parents had the liberty to enjoy their favorite movies or dramas with their children. But over the years cinema has evolved and changed completely. It is largely influenced by the western world. Adult and sexual content is now included in every movie and especially in the web series. Due to this India’s young population and especially kids are getting exposed to such content at a very young age and inculcating many bad habits. Many children are getting addicted to porn movies and suffering from mental illness from a very young age. Even some web series like Sacred Games, Leila, and recently released Paatal Lok have been criticized and slammed for showing religious violence and projecting a particular religion in a bad light. It’s high time that the Indian government intervenes and enacts a separate law for censoring the online content.
Yukti Kumar @ Samacharline