New Delhi: The Supreme Court said that the new guidelines of the government on regulating Over The Top platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have "no teeth" as there is no provision of prosecution. The SC said that the law has to be framed to put in place a mechanism to control OTT platforms instead of mere guidelines.
Reports said that a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said that the new guidelines issued by the Central Government lack the teeth to address the issue it has put forth. The apex court had on Thursday supported the measure to "screen" content telecasted on OTT platforms and had directed the centre to place rules regarding that on record. The Centre had objections with "pornographic content" in the "Tandav" web series.
Also read: SC: Porn content on OTT platforms, 'need screening'
The SC also granted protection from arrest to India Head of Amazon Prime Video, Aparna Purohit and directed her to cooperate in the investigation. It also allowed the Union of India to be impleaded in the matter.
The bench comprising of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice R Subhash Reddy was hearing the petition filed by Purohit who had challenged the Allahabad High Court order denying her pre-arrest bail.
Also read: 'New OTT rules based on self-classification of content instead of censorship'
Solictor General, Tushar Mehta, told the Court that the government can come up with a draft within two weeks and something can be formulated for the Court's consideration. The SC directed the government to place it on record.
Senior advocate, Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Purohit told the court today that unconditional apology has been tendered, two scenes have been removed and if two more scenes are asked to be removed, they will do it.
Also read: OTT and SM regulations: Experts support crackdown on 'objectionable content'
