Netflix series on IC 814 ‘an attempt to rewrite history’, says PIL in SC
Describing the Netflix series on IC 814 hijack as “a vile attempt to rewrite history” and subtly glorify hijackers’ actions, a PIL in the Supreme Court on Tuesday sought setting up of an autonomous body to monitor, filter and regulate content on over-the-top (OTT) and other platforms.
The petitioners – advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha and Apurva Arhatia – referred to Netflix series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ to highlight the need for such a regulatory mechanism.
As the producers claimed the series was based on real-life incidents, the petitioners termed it “a vile attempt to rewrite history, downplay the terror inflicted by the actual hijackers, and subtly glorify their actions...by reducing the tragedy of IC 814 to a farcical narrative…”.
They said, “…the series tried to promote the insidious agenda that seeks to whitewash the brutality of terrorism and vilify the Hindu community.”
They urged the top court to direct the Centre "to constitute an autonomous body/board namely 'Central Board for Regulation and Monitoring of Online Video Contents' to monitor and filter the contents and regulate the videos on various platforms for viewers in India".
Such a board must be headed by a secretary-level IAS officer and have members from varied fields including the film industry, cinematography, media, defence forces, the legal profession and members of academia, the PIL demanded.
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) – popularly known as censor board -- is statutorily mandated to regulate public exhibition of films under the Cinematograph Act which provides for a strict certification process for commercial films.
"However, no such body is available to monitor/regulate the OTT content and they are only bound by the self-regulations which are not compiled properly and the controversial content is shown to the public at large without any checks and balances," the petitioners submitted.
In the absence of a CBFC-type body for the OTT and other digital media platforms, filmmakers often release content without getting clearance certificates for films and web series from government authorities.
More than 40 OTT platforms were providing “paid, ad-inclusive, and free content” to citizens and abuse the right to expression granted in Article 19, said the petitioners, who made the ministries of Information and Broadcasting, Health and Family Welfare, Women and Child Development, Defence and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India parties to the PIL.
Describing the IT Rules, 2021, notified by the Centre to self-regulate OTT platforms as “inefficient”, the PIL said the unregulated portals were releasing everything without any moderation and common people in India were watching such content in the comfort of their houses which could ultimately lead to various problems in future.
"The issue pertains to the abuse of fundamental rights of equality (Article 14), freedom of expression (Article 19), thus infringing right to life of people at large (Article 21) and Article 47 mandating state to improve public health and prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs harmful to health," they contended.
