Hindutva outfit demands stringent OTT laws 'as in UAE'

The outfit suggested that the government amend the Information Technology Act to classify all such content as pornography, which people should only be able to access by punching in their Aadhaar details or their fingerprints.

Archis Mohan reports

The Save Culture Save Bharat Foundation, headed by former Central Information Commissioner Uday Mahurkar, on Wednesday demanded the setting up of an umbrella body to regulate all audio-visual content, including over-the-top (OTT) platforms and films, to monitor sexually explicit and any other content that promoted “false narratives”, “love jihad” and inaccurately depicted India’s history.

The outfit launched an online Swachh Cyber Bharat campaign at the national capital’s Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library (PMML), urging people to send in their suggestions to the government for the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill.

The government released the draft Bill on November 10, inviting comments from the public until December 9, which it later extended to January 15.

The bill will replace the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

At a press conference held at the PMML, the outfit demanded that the government treat the production of “sexually perverted and incestuous” content on all OTT platforms as “anti-national activity”, which should attract harsh penal provisions, including imprisonment for 10 to 20 years with the burden of proof placed on the accused.

It asked the government to ban sexually explicit content completely, “as in Dubai” and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), bring in a law of ethics and adequate changes in the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) bill.

The outfit also suggested that the government amend the Information Technology Act to classify all such content as pornography, which people should only be able to access by punching in their Aadhaar details or their fingerprints.

The association released a “white paper”, titled OTT objectionable content research, documenting the “misdemeanours” of OTT content available on leading platforms.

Apart from Mahurkar, Supreme Court advocate Monika Arora, Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabhas representatives, and others are associated with the effort.

Mahurkar said the foundation's campaign has received support from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, Swami Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

“We have demanded specific limits on themes, scenes, language and clothing in audio-visual content across all platforms to ensure responsible content creation,” Mahurkar said, suggesting that the government put an umbrella regulatory authority in place.

He said there were several studies where rapists have told investigators they were influenced by content on OTTs and other platforms.

The outfit said nearly 500 apps had surfaced that show such content “depicting incestuous relationships, especially in the country's majority Hindu community”.

“India is on the road to becoming ‘vishwaguru’, an economic, military and scientific powerhouse by 2047. However, the crucial question is whether India can evolve into a culturally upright nation,” Mahurkar, a former journalist who served as an Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission for a three-year term from November 2020 to November 2023.

He founded the outfit in December 2022.

According to him, the foundation’s mission received global attention through its Toolkit on cyber education and cyber awareness of children and you released at a G20 meeting in New Delhi.

Mahurkar and others said the OTT content was more damaging to India's society than any that “foreign invaders" may have wrought on it.

They asserted that Christian and Muslim religious leaders have backed their efforts.