Information & Broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said there is a need to make existing laws more stringent to curb vulgar content on social media and OTT platforms.
The minister also urged a parliamentary standing committee to take up the issue as a priority, while pressing for the need of a societal consensus on it.
“The cultural sensitivities of India vastly differ from those of the regions where these platforms were created. This makes it imperative for India to make existing laws stricter,” Vaishnaw said during the Question Hour in Parliament.
The minister was responding to questions by BJP member Arun Govil about existing mechanisms to check the illegal telecast of vulgar and sex-related content through social media platforms. The question was whether the government proposes to make the existing laws more stringent keeping in view the fact that the laws are “not much effective to stop misuse of these platforms”.
In a written reply, Vaishnaw said the ministry blocked 18 OTT platforms for publishing obscene and vulgar content.
“The democratic institutions and traditional forms of the press that once relied on editorial checks to ensure accountability and correctness of content, have seen these checks diminish over time,” Vaishnaw said.
The minister said, due to the absence of such editorial oversight, social media has become a platform for freedom of press on one hand, but on the other hand, it has become a space for uncontrolled expression, which often includes vulgar content.