In a major shock to Modi-led central government, the Supreme Court on Friday expressed dissatisfaction about the new guidelines framed under the Information Technology Act to regulate Over The Top(OTT) platforms.
Asking the government to consider framing more stringent legislation or regulation, the Supreme Court stated that the regulations lacked penal provisions and have “no teeth”.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy that heard the anticipatory bail plea of Amazon Prime India head Aparna Purohit in the “Tandav” case observed that ‘watching movies on the internet and OTT has become common’.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta told the court that law will agree with the observation of the bench and said the government must come out with the draft of a law on the lines suggested by the court and it will be placed before the bench for approval.
To recall, the new guidelines, OTT platforms will have to form a self-regulating body that will be headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge or very eminent person in this category. The social media companies as well may need to appoint officers who will be responsible for complying with content moderation orders.
