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Taking a tough stand on complaints against content on OTT platforms, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday said vulgarity and abusive language was not acceptable in the name of creativity. Addressing a press conference here, Thakur said the government had taken a serious view on complaints of vulgarity and abusive language in content on OTT platforms and will not hesitate to take tough action to stop this trend. "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," Thakur said. "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. 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
Firing a fresh salvo in the revenue share debate, industry body COAI on Monday said the demand of telecom operators for a reasonable usage fee' from OTT communication service providers towards network use is "fair and rational", and would drive the digital infrastructure while contributing to the economy. Just days after Internet and Mobile Association of India's (IAMAI) assertions that demand for 'revenue share' was an underhanded attempt to violate net neutrality, COAI returned fire saying it is "misleading" to state that Net Neutrality principles will be violated. "Certain entities with vested interests are misdirecting the issue of the need for a regulatory framework for the communication OTTs and the need of usage charge to be paid by OTTs to the TSPs, by bringing in the aspect of Net Neutrality in a misleading manner, to make it a populist issue," SP Kochhar, Director General of COAI, said in a statement, without naming IAMAI. The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI
Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday asked the entertainment industry to self-regulate content of programmes on televisions and over-the-top (OTT) platforms as some of them are beyond acceptable standards within the Indian cultural landscape. He said that some form of self-regulation and some levels of decency in the presentation of India, Indian families and culture needs to be there. "I do believe that some form of self-regulation within the media and entertainment industry is called for. On the one hand, we talk of our culture, rich tradition, our heritage, our family value systems and on the other hand, some of what we see on television and OTT platforms, certainly is beyond what is ordinarily acceptable standards within the Indian cultural landscape," the minister said. He wondered if any of the Indian families use the kind of language that is sometimes reflected on some of these OTT shows. "I do not know if it helps in sell your product any better. I suspec