Murali Gopy raises voice against censorship of OTT platforms

Murali Gopy has always been vocal about his views and opinions on general affairs, happening around us. Now, the actor-writer has raised his voice against the Central government’s decision to OTT platforms under the regulatory purview of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Taking to his social media pages, he wrote, “Saving creative content from Governmental curbs, political agenda and ideological propaganda, is paramount to any democracy. Any effort to curb it, on any creative platform, needs to be fought legally through a concerted effort. Hope that would happen soon.”

In yet another post, he shared a quote by 20th century Irish playwright George Bernad Shaw, that “The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship”.

OTT platforms, like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, SonyLIV, ZEE5, Disney Plus Hotstar among many others, and news websites, will now come under the purview of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, as per a notification issued on Wednesday.

Earlier, the government had asked OTT platforms to come up with a self-regulatory mechanism. But, in September, the government expressed displeasure at the model proposed by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). The model was largely rejected because it did not define the code of ethics and was not clear on the definition of prohibited content. The IAMAI was asked to look into the model followed by News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) and Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC).