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Streaming giants Netflix, Amazon and Disney reportedly may be planning to oppose India’s new tobacco warning rules. The likely reason is that they will need to edit millions of hours of existing web content.
According to a report in news agency Reuters, in first signs of industry distress, executives of the three global streaming companies, and Viacom18 which runs JioCinema app, held a closed-door meeting, where Netflix said that the rules would hit customer experience and push production houses to block their content in India. The report quotes two people said to be familiar with the discussions.
Executives in India also reportedly discussed ways of a possible legal challenge to assert that other ministries – IT and information & broadcasting – have powers over streaming giants, and not the health ministry, said one of the sources.
India is one of the fastest-growing markets for streaming giants.
What the new tobacco rules say
India has become the first country to make it mandatory for OTT (over-the-top)platforms to display anti-tobacco warnings and disclaimers as seen in movies screened in theatres and television programmes. The Union health ministry notified the amendments in the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2004 rules on the ‘World No Tobacco Day’ on May 31.
According to the notification, the publishers of online curated content displaying tobacco products or their use will be required to display anti-tobacco health spots of a minimum of 30 seconds each at the beginning and middle of a programme. The OTT platforms shall also be required to exhibit an anti-tobacco health warning as a prominent static message at the bottom of the screen when tobacco products or their use are displayed during a programme. “The anti-tobacco health warning message as specified in clause (b) of sub-rule (1) shall be legible and readable, with font in black colour on white background and with the warnings ‘tobacco causes cancer’ or ‘tobacco kills’,” the notification stated
All smoking and alcohol drinking scenes in movies in India’s cinemas and on TV, under the law, require health warnings, but so far there were no regulations for the streaming giants, whose content has become increasingly popular.
Reportedly during the meeting, Amazon and other companies made the point that there was no way films could be edited in three months. Industry seems to be planning to consult lawyers as well as write letters in protest.
(With agency inputs)
According to a report in news agency Reuters, in first signs of industry distress, executives of the three global streaming companies, and Viacom18 which runs JioCinema app, held a closed-door meeting, where Netflix said that the rules would hit customer experience and push production houses to block their content in India. The report quotes two people said to be familiar with the discussions.
Executives in India also reportedly discussed ways of a possible legal challenge to assert that other ministries – IT and information & broadcasting – have powers over streaming giants, and not the health ministry, said one of the sources.
India is one of the fastest-growing markets for streaming giants.
What the new tobacco rules say
India has become the first country to make it mandatory for OTT (over-the-top)platforms to display anti-tobacco warnings and disclaimers as seen in movies screened in theatres and television programmes. The Union health ministry notified the amendments in the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2004 rules on the ‘World No Tobacco Day’ on May 31.
According to the notification, the publishers of online curated content displaying tobacco products or their use will be required to display anti-tobacco health spots of a minimum of 30 seconds each at the beginning and middle of a programme. The OTT platforms shall also be required to exhibit an anti-tobacco health warning as a prominent static message at the bottom of the screen when tobacco products or their use are displayed during a programme. “The anti-tobacco health warning message as specified in clause (b) of sub-rule (1) shall be legible and readable, with font in black colour on white background and with the warnings ‘tobacco causes cancer’ or ‘tobacco kills’,” the notification stated
All smoking and alcohol drinking scenes in movies in India’s cinemas and on TV, under the law, require health warnings, but so far there were no regulations for the streaming giants, whose content has become increasingly popular.
Reportedly during the meeting, Amazon and other companies made the point that there was no way films could be edited in three months. Industry seems to be planning to consult lawyers as well as write letters in protest.
(With agency inputs)
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