Indecent Net representation

IN Media Watch Briefs | 18/09/2012

Possibly soon, the IT Act may not be the only law used to censor the Internet. The Women and Child Ministry has proposed amendments to  the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, which seek to bring Internet and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) under its purview. Even the fine for such an offence could be  increased from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 50,000 and a jail term of three years. “Depiction of women as a sexual object, which appeals to the prurient interest” has been added to the ‘definition of indecent representation of women’ in one of the proposed amendments. (HT)

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The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.                   

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.                 

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