I&B Ministry promise tough action to stop vulgarity and abusive language on OTT

Calls for censorship in the OTT space aren't new and are showing no signs of doubling down either. Taking cognisance of such appeals, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said vulgarity and abusive language were not acceptable in the name of creativity.

Addressing a press conference, Anurag said, "These platforms were given freedom for creativity and not for obscenity and when one crosses the limit, then hurling abuses in the name of creativity cannot be accepted at all. If there is a need to change the rules, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will not hesitate. It will take tough action to stop vulgarity and abusive language," the minister said.

Incidentally, in January, Thakur had batted for creative autonomy and said adequate safeguards were in place to monitor content on OTT platforms.

"Creativity should not be reined in, it should have autonomy. But it should not be too much that anything can be shown. We have kept adequate provisions and till date they are working fine," Thakur had said.

On Sunday, Thakur said there was a three-stage mechanism to deal with content on OTT platforms.  

"As per the current procedure, producers have to address complaints about the content first and then they go to their association. When a complaint reaches the government (I&B department), strict action is taken as per rules," he said.