OTT must have ‘soft-touch oversight mechanism’ and have a ‘robust redressal’ of grievances: Ravi Shankar

A press conference was held today by union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Ravi Shankar Prasad to address the issues related to explicit and objectionable content on the social media platforms and the OTT platforms as well. The conference lasted for almost 45 minutes where the union ministers took to the media to discuss the matter of explicit content on these platforms. 

The union minister of electronics and information, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “I urge big social media companies to have a ‘soft-touch oversight mechanism’ and have a ‘robust redressal’ of grievances”, regarding the content of these platforms.

He further added, “This should be only in relation to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, public order, relations with foreign states, or rape, sexually explicit content, etc.”

He also informed that if there is any complaint registered against the ‘dignity’ of the users, then the platforms would have to take down the content within 24 hours of the complaint.

This comes after a spat between Twitter and the government where the end user’s privacy was put on question. The Govt asked the big social media platforms and the OTT platforms to display user agreement and privacy policy to the end-users that would ask them not to “host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share” any such content on these platforms.

The content shared on the platforms must not be “defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, and invasive of another’s privacy, including bodily privacy, insulting or harassing on the basis of gender, libelous, racially or ethnically objectionable, relating or encouraging money laundering or gambling, or otherwise inconsistent with or contrary to the laws of India.”