Censorship

Documents accessed through RTI paint a grim picture for creativity and diversity of content for online streaming platforms in India.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting may be considering regulating online content on Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms. We wrote a letter to the Ministry, in which we detailed potential harms, asked for clarity, and requested a thorough implementation of the pre-legislative consultation policy.

In response to a petition filed before the Kerala HC, Indian Kanoon has clarified that a right to be forgotten cannot be judicially created without a statutory basis and explained that court records are public documents whose reproduction cannot be prohibited by citing the right to privacy.

In the impleadment application, we have cautioned against judicial intervention at this stage because OTT regulation is a complex and technical issue best addressed through legislative and policy making processes involving extensive stakeholder consultation.

Read our proposals to the Government of Kerala to help avoid any overbroad or unnecessary criminalisation of online speech while also making sure abuse, threats or any of the harms that emerge on social media can be checked.