India’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting summoned the Netflix India Head of Content following the show’s ‘IC 814’; viewers claimed the series distorted the names of the terrorists involved in the piracy of Indian Airlines Flight 814. The case in point is the flight hijacking that happened in December 1999 in which a flight from Kathmandu to Delhi was hijacked, and this has remained a very sensitive issue in Indian aviation history.
From the reports of Monday, what can be said regarding the show, it has been claimed that the series has distorted the true imagery of the terrorists, which has caused anxiety among the authorities and people. The fact that the Ministry has decided to summon Netflix India’s content head shows that the government is very much concerned about the issue. This action proves that showing the true and global part of history and not altering any event concerns terrorism and national security issues.
This has given rise to a wider discussion on the role of streaming platforms, especially in portraying historical events, the effects of such portrayals on society, and how this will shape history. Changes in the names and details of events in serials based on real life can be considered a distortion of history and a means to create confusion and mislead.
The Ministry’s action suggests that the content being put out there by such giants is a cause for concern, especially given the history being depicted thereon. It just goes to show that those in the creative industries involved in constructing such history-based content should always be very careful not to denigrate or disrespect any party regardless of right or wrong that party might have had in the past. In this investigation, attention will shift towards how media platforms respond to real-life narratives, especially those rooted in historical and cultural truths.
It also brings great concern about the extent of artistic license compared to the accounts’ accuracy, where the content producers are forced to tread a thin line between sensationalizing the story and portraying the events as closely to historical truth as possible. Depending on the decision reached in this case, it can be used as a reference for solving similar problems in the future.
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