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Court says rules have no provision of prosecution; grants protection from arrest to Amazon Prime Video’s India head in FIRs lodged against Tandav series
MID-DAY (March 6, 2021)

The Supreme Court on Friday said the Centre’s new guidelines on regulating over-the-top (OTT) platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime have “no teeth” as there is no provision for taking appropriate action against digital platforms showing inappropriate content. 

“We have received the rules you (government) have filed. These rules don’t have any teeth. There is no provision for prosecution. They are just guidelines,” the court added. The apex court also granted protection from arrest to Amazon Prime Video’s India head Aparna Purohit in FIRs lodged over web series Tandav.

A bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and R S Reddy observed that a law has to be framed to put in place a mechanism to control OTT platforms instead of mere guidelines. 

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the government can come up with a better draft of the rules for the consideration of court within two weeks and the new rules were brought as a balance between “no-censorship and internal self-regulation”.

The top court had on Thursday observed that some OTT platforms at times show pornographic contents and there should be a mechanism to screen such programmes. It had asked the Centre to place its guidelines on regulating social media.

Mehta had said he would be placing on records the Information Technology (Guidelines for intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

The bench also issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on Purohit’s plea for anticipatory bail in FIRs on Tandav series. It said Purohit’s protection from arrest will be subject to her cooperating with the investigation and appearing before the police as and when summoned. The SC also directed Purohit to make Centre as a party to her plea.

Tandav is a nine-episode political thriller starring Bollywood A-listers Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub. Purohit has been accused of inappropriate depiction of Uttar Pradesh police personnel, Hindu deities and an adverse portrayal of a character playing the prime minister in the web series.
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TIMES VIEW:

The Supreme Court, while very wisely dismissing a petition some years ago to ban a film on grounds of nudity and vulgarity, said, “If you don’t like, then don’t watch it… These are matters of art and entertainment and let them remain so.” Instead of championing the cause of greater freedom — and that includes artistic and creative freedom — it now wants government to censor OTT platforms. That’s a dangerous road to take, especially in an environment that has turned increasingly intolerant on many fronts — political, socio-religious, cultural. Also, the court is missing a fundamental difference between OTT and publicly-screened cinema, even broadcast television. OTT, by its very technology, is narrow-cast, and to try and dictate what people can or cannot stream online amounts to invasion of privacy. There are laws governing certain forms of pornography — notably child pornography — and they must be stringently enforced. Beyond that, it’s moral policing. Worse, to give any government licence to arbitrate on such definitionally amorphous concepts as taste and morality is liberty-limiting.