Parliamentary panel questions legality of new OTT, social media guidelines

On February 25, Union minister Prakash Javadekar and Ravi Shankar Prasad announced the new policies for the OTT platform and digital media.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology (IT) on Monday headed by Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor questioned the legality of new rules framed by the government to regulate OTT (Over the top) and social media platforms.

Content on OTT platforms had recently fuelled controversy, leading to public outcry (Mint File Photo)

Articulated by the central government to regulate OTT and social media platforms, certain members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee questioned the officials whether these rules are in conformity with the legal framework.

The panel held a meeting on Monday under the chairmanship of Tharoor in which committee members grilled officials of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

"Who were consulted before making guidelines for OTT, from where the opinions were taken, whether the judiciary, intellectual people, civic society and the professionals were contacted, or are these rules made by bureaucrats only," the committee members asked the officials of Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, a committee member told ANI.

Briefing the members of the panel, government officials justified the need for such rules in changing times and also explained the rationale behind them.

On February 25, Union minister Prakash Javadekar and Ravi Shankar Prasad announced the new policies for the OTT platform and digital media.

This comes as the content on OTT platforms had recently fuelled controversy, leading to public outcry and the booking of makers of some programs.