Indian High Court to decide whether video streaming platforms should be regulated by the Cinematograph Act and the Central Board of Film Certification
The Karnataka High Court has received a petition claiming that video streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar and YouTube should be brought under the Cinematograph Act and should obtain certificates from the Central Board of Film Certification before broadcasting content. The petition argues that until the government enact suitable laws, the Board should certify all films and serials content on streaming platforms. The petition alleges that video streaming platforms make multimedia content, including films, without any suitable regulation. It addresses that streaming platforms should not claim safe harbour protection under the IT Act (Section 79) since they decide what content will be streamed by getting into agreements with content producers.