Supreme Court agrees to hear PIL seeking formation of autonomous body to regulate content on online streaming platforms

The Supreme Court today agreed to consider a petition that seeks the setting up of a body to regulate online streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime..The Bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notice in the PIL filed by one Shashank Shekhar Jha..This body, the petition suggests, may be called the Central Board for Regulation and Monitoring of Online Video Contents (CBRMOVC) "to monitor and filter the contents and regulate the videos on various platforms for viewers in India.".The board, the PIL says, may be headed by an IAS officer and may consist of members from various other fields..While issuing notice, the Court observed,"We don't know if this is possible, but we are issuing notice.".The PIL presses for a regulatory mechanism for streaming platforms, terming the same as the need of the hour. The plea says that with cinema theatres unlikely to open for normal functioning anytime soon, many filmmakers and other creators have chosen the route of streaming platforms for making their content available for consumption by the public..This makes it necessary for the content on these platforms to be regulated and monitored, as opposed to the current setup, where unfiltered content is available for the public at large in the absence of an autonomous body.."These unregulated portals are putting everything without any moderation and common people in India without are watching the same at their houses which could ultimately lead to various problems in coming future."Petition filed in Supreme Court.The plea further adds that as of 2019 end, the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting was required to publish a list of non-negotiable prohibited content. Over the Top (OTT) platforms were also urged to evolve a self-regulatory body to monitor and screen the adult and political content that is made available for streaming. However, such efforts and developments were not fruitful..In this light, the PIL prays for the setting up of an autonomous body and for the Court to appoint an amicus curiae to assist it in evolving this mechanism..The PIL is filed through Advocate Manju Jetley Sharma.