Need Common Legislation To Regulate Digital, Linear Media: TRAI

SUMMARY

Anil Kumar Lahoti raised concerns over how traditional media and cable was governed by strict legislation while digital media merely had self-regulation

The TRAI chairman also said that the regulator was not in favour of an “environment” where regulations discriminate between two mediums

This comes barely days after the Centre informed the SC that it was working on new norms to curb obscenity on streaming platforms and social media sites

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti has reportedly underscored the need for further regulating online content.

Speaking at the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai, Lahoti reportedly pitched for a common regulation to regulate linear and digital content delivery mechanisms.

As per The Hindu businessline, he raised concerns over how traditional media and cable was governed by strict legislation while digital media merely had self-regulation.

“There is a clear difference between the manner in which the linear content and digital content are regulated. While self-regulation applies to digital content, the linear content is regulated by the Cable Television Regulation Act. There is no reason why one media should be regulated with one set of rules, while others should have self-regulation. There is (a) need to align content regulation. It should be media agnostic,” Lahoti reportedly said.

The TRAI chairman also said that the regulator was not in favour of an “environment” where regulations discriminate between two mediums, giving one medium an “undue advantage” compared to another.

This comes barely days after the union government informed the Supreme Court that the Centre was working on new norms to curb obscenity on streaming platforms and social media sites. The government informed the Court that there was a need for regulation without enforcing blanket censorship.

This came as the SC was hearing a public interest petition (PIL) filed by journalist and former information commissioner Uday Mahurkar against obscene and objectionable content available on such over-the-top (OTT) platforms. The SC bench reportedly called the matter a serious issue and issued notices to the Centre and platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, ALTBalaji, Ullu, Mubi, X, Google, Meta, and Apple.

The developments come close on the heels of the uproar created by YouTuber Samay Raina’s show ‘India’s Got Latent’ earlier this year. Following the controversy, the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) directed OTT streaming and social media platforms to adhere to the code of conduct prescribed under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media, Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

At the time, the government also directed the platforms to undertake age-based classification of content, and implement access control mechanisms to ensure that children have no access to adult content.

Afterwards, it was also reported that the Centre was looking to introduce an ethics code for digital creators with more than 5 Mn followers.