Lok Sabha Question No. 4207 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-26
Subject: Content Moderation on OTT Platforms
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat, Shri Tejasvi Surya, Shri Tapir Gao

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4207

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.03.2025

CONTENT MODERATION ON OTT PLATFORMS

4207. SHRI TRIVENDRA SINGH RAWAT:

SHRI TEJASVI SURYA:

SHRI TAPIR GAO:

Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state;

- (a)  the  regulation  model  for  OTT  platforms  along  with  the  salient features of the guidelines that they are being made to follow;
- (b) whether the Government has made it mandatory for OTT platforms to  disclose  their  internal  content  moderation  and  age-classification processes;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  amend  the  IT  Rules, 2021  to  impose  stringent  penalties  in  case  of  violations  by  OTT platforms; and
- (d) if so, the details of the proposed amendments and penalties in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING; AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (DR. L MURUGAN):

(a)  to  (d):  The  Government  has  notified  Information  Technology (Intermediary  Guidelines  and  Digital  Media  Ethics  Code)  Rules,  2021 (IT Rules, 2021) on 25th February, 2021 under Information Technology Act, 2000.

Part-III  of  these  Rules,  administered  by  Ministry  of  Information  and Broadcasting,  provides  for  a  Code  of  Ethics  for  publishers  of  online curated content (OTT  platforms) which, inter alia, requires the publishers not to transmit any content which is prohibited by law for the time being in force and to undertake age based self-classification of  content  into  5  categories  as  under:  based  on  general  guidelines provided in the Schedule to the Rules

| Nature of Content (suitable for)                                                                                    | Classification   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|
| Unrestricted access, regardless of age, and is family friendly                                                      | U                |
| For persons aged 7 years and above, and can be viewed by a person under the age of 7 years with parental guidance   | U/A 7+           |
| For persons aged 13 years and above, and can be viewed by a person under the age of 13 years with parental guidance | U/A 13+          |
| For persons aged 16 years and above, and can be viewed by a person under the age of 16 years with parental guidance | U/A 16+          |
| Restricted to adults                                                                                                | A                |

Besides, Section  79(3)(b)  of  IT  Act,  2000  provides  for  notification  by appropriate  Governments      of    unlawful  act  or  content    to  the intermediaries for removing/disabling access to such content.

Government takes action against OTT platforms for hosting/streaming obscene content under the existing statutory framework.

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