: Filthy OTT content: The court steps in (IANS Column: B-Town) #IndiaNEWS #Entertainment <br>The only OTT platform that had avoided committing itself to this system was Amazon Prime. It has now

Filthy OTT content: The court steps in (IANS Column: B-Town) #IndiaNEWS #Entertainment
<br>The only OTT platform that had avoided committing itself to this system was Amazon Prime. It has now signed up for the British Content Rating Guidelines and offers age-wise ratings for content.
As many as 29 Video On Demand and OTT streaming platforms operate in the UK and all of them provide age ratings for their content.
The censorship of films in India is a British legacy, of course. The intentions were different when it was launched. The British Raj wanted to curb anything that smacked of being against it. The Indian State has continued to subject films to censorship as the moral guardian of the public.
This is the same country, ironically, that promotes tourism in the name of caves filled with reliefs of maithuna and is proud of being the country of Vatsyayana and his Kama Sutra! Actually, films rarely if ever depict sex or obscenity. The purpose of the censor board is mainly to check on gore and violence.
The point is, Indian authorities have such a cockeyed view that while they go extra hard on movies, they let anything and everything pass as OTT content! The Government of India keeps banning porn sites (you know the kind politicians and lawmakers enjoy when Parliament and state assemblies are in session!), but it lets all the vulgarity it doesnt want people to watch on porn sites, to appear on OTT platforms.
This vulgarity on OTT is being dished out on a regular basis and the visuals and language used reflect the same depraved mindset that rapists of three- and six-year-old girls have.
OTT series such as Special Ops, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, The Family Man, Panchayat and Criminal Justice were greatly appreciated and not because they carried filthy stuff. But makers still churn out the series that ooze obscenity, vulgarity and gore.
The powers that be dont like the courts directing them in every matter, but lethargy on their part leads to courts becoming the final destination. A lot many decisions that the government should take are left for the courts to effect.
The governments views is so cockeyed that it wants films to be clean and wholesome, but, at the same time, the content on OTT platforms depict vulgarity ad nauseam. Films are rated A, UA, U, and so on, and the cinemas, at least in major centres, follow the norms. In the case of OTT content, which reaches our homes, we have no control and even children have access to it.
The courts have now decided to step in. This week, the Delhi High Court took cognizance of the matter. It observed that the content of the TVF-produced web series College Romance on Sonys OTT platform was obscene, lascivious and profane. The Court also asked the government to take steps to check the language on such platforms.

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