India unveiled a new draught broadcasting law on Friday that aims to regulate the industry. It will also apply to major streaming companies like Netflix, Disney, and Amazon and mandates the creation of separate content assessment panels.

India, which is predicted by Media Partners Asia to become a $7 billion market for the industry by 2027, has seen a significant increase in the popularity of Netflix and Amazon. Prominent Bollywood actors have appeared in web series, some of which have drawn condemnation for sequences deemed vulgar or hurtful to religious feelings from the public and lawmakers.

The creation of Content Evaluation Committees (CEC) by individual broadcasters is one of the “key innovations” in the new law, according to Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, and would support “robust self-regulation”.

“Every broadcaster or broadcasting network operator must establish a Content Evaluation Committee (CEC) with members from various social groups,” stated the draft law document, which is open for public consultation for 30 days.

However, the recommendation is made at a time when Indian streaming providers are being examined more closely for content-related concerns.

According to a July Reuters story, the ministry had discreetly advised Netflix and other streaming providers that their material ought to undergo an independent screening process to weed out profanity and violence before it is posted online.

Despite being examined and approved by a government-appointed board, streaming content is not. All films shown in Indian theatres are.

The new proposed law stated that only programmes that have been “duly certified” by such a committee are to be aired, and that the federal government “may define the CEC’s size, quorum, and operational details.”

“A historic opportunity at liberalisation is being squandered and a paternalistic mechanism of censorship and government control has been proposed,” Apar Gupta, a New Delhi-based technology policy expert, said about the content review proposal.

According to Gupta, the law will also give the government the authority to control any internet publisher or news outlet.

(Adapted from FirstPost.com)