New Delhi: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha that existing legislation should be made stricter to tackle ‘vulgar content’ on social media and over-the-top platforms, Scroll reported.
The minister, responding to a question raised by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Arun Govil on the subject, asked the parliamentary standing committee to take up the matter.
Claiming that content on social media and OTT platforms was damaging moral values and culture, Govil asked about the existing mechanism to tackle them.
The Meerut MP asked if the government would make the existing laws stricter to stop the misuse of these platforms, adding that the current laws were not effective.
The minister in reply said that editorial checks, previously used to assess the appropriateness of content, were no longer in place.
‘Today, social media, which is a major platform for freedom of the press in a way, is also an uncontrolled expression in another way, in which vulgar content also comes due to lack of editorial check,’ the minister was quoted as saying.
Govil asked if the Centre had plans to regulate the foreign over-the-top platforms allegedly distributing objectionable content by making them accountable under Indian laws.
He said that ‘There is a lot of difference between the culture of our country and the countries from where these social media platforms have come,’adding that ‘So I would like the parliamentary standing committee to take up this issue and strict laws are made on the issue.’