The freedom of expression is a pivotal component of our individual development – as human beings and as “political animals” – and to improve and radicalize democracies.
The invention of the press therefore constitutes the turning point for the debates about freedom of expression. Guaranteeing each individual’s right to freely seek, receive or impart information while interacting with other individuals ceased to be enough. It was necessary to go beyond, upholding this right allied by an intermediary that radically magnified the outreach of opinions, information and ideas: the mass media.
Under this perspective, many foundational pillars of the contemporary debate on human rights dedicated substantial attention to freedom of expression and its links to the mass media. The idea of a free, independent, plural, and diversified media has become the ideal to be achieved in order to fully ensure the right to seek, receive and impart information.
When broadcasting took over the mass media’s leading role in the beginning of the 20th Century, media regulation started its development hand in hand with guaranteeing, promoting, and protecting freedom of expression. In fact, the ultimate goal for regulating media should be to protect and deepen this fundamental right.
If satellite television changed the broadcasting game in the 1990s, the last decade has witnessed a renaissance in the OTT space which has even surpassed established mediums such as cable and DTH. The unparalleled growth of streaming platforms has not only altered the way content is consumed and experienced but also our tastes and preferences. We’re now more open to content produced in all languages as long as it’s compelling or raises the bar for storytelling. To understand how we got here, let’s rewind to where it all started.
OTT platforms slid into the Indian entertainment ecosystem without a bang. India’s OTT history may be a short one but it has surely managed to shake up the entertainment business and significantly influenced viewer preferences and tastes. The most obvious behavioural change that we have seen is that of viewers accepting and enjoying content across all languages.
The Indian over-the-top (OTT) video streaming market may record a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 20 per cent to touch $13 billion–$15 billion over the next decade. The secret to having a successful reach in the OTT platform is about knowing its audience.
Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC), set up under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, has been tasked with the responsibility of ensuring self-regulation of the digital content. In many ways, the new initiative is a way forward from and a natural corollary of the extremely successful experiment in television content self regulation undertaken through the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) established by IBDF way back in June 2011.
The IDMIF Board has also adopted Guidelines which, inter-alia, set-out the framework of DMCRC and grievance redressal mechanism.
