(1) A publisher and a self-regulating body, shall make true and full disclosure of all grievances received by it, the manner in which the grievances are disposed of, the action taken on the grievance, the reply sent to the complainant, the orders or directions received by it under these rules and action taken on such orders or directions.
(2) The information referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be displayed publicly and updated monthly.
(3) Subject to any law for the time being in force, the publisher shall preserve records of content transmitted by it for a minimum period of sixty days and make it available to the self-regulating body or the Central Government, or any other Government agency, as may be requisitioned by them for implementation of these rules.
APPENDIX CODE OF ETHICS I News and current affairs:
(i) Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council of India under the Press Council Act, 1978;
(ii) Programme Code under section 5 of the Cable Television Networks Regulation) Act, 1995;
(iii) Content which is prohibited under any law for the time being in force shall not be published or transmitted.
II Online curated content:
(A) General Principles:
(a) A publisher shall not transmit or publish or exhibit any content which is prohibited under any law for the time being in force or has been prohibited by any court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) A publisher shall take into consideration the following factors, when deciding to feature or transmit or publish or exhibit any content, after duly considering the implications of any content as falling under the following categories, and shall exercise due caution and discretion in relation to the same, namely:—
(i) content which affects the sovereignty and integrity of India;
(ii) content which threatens, endangers or jeopardises the security of the State;
(iii) content which is detrimental to India’s friendly relations with foreign countries;
(iv) content which is likely to incite violence or disturb the maintenance of public order.
(c) A publisher shall take into consideration India’s multi-racial and multi-religious context and exercise due caution and discretion when featuring the activities, beliefs, practices, or views of any racial or religious group.
(B) Content Classification:
(i) All content transmitted or published or exhibited by a publisher of online curated content shall be classified, based on the nature and type of content, into the following rating categories, namely:—
(a) Online curated content which is suitable for children as well as people of all ages shall be classified as “U” rating;
(b) Online curated content which is suitable for persons aged 7 years and above, and can be viewed by a person under the age of 7 years with parental guidance, shall be classified as “U/A 7+” rating;
(c) Online curated content which is suitable for persons aged 13 years and above, and can be viewed by a person under the age of 13 years with parental guidance, shall be classified as “U/A 13+” rating;
(d) Online curated content which is suitable for persons aged 16 years and above, and can be viewed by a person under the age of 16 years with parental guidance, shall be classified as “U/A 16+” rating; and
(e) Online curated content which is restricted to adults shall be classified as “A” rating.
(ii) The Content may be classified on the basis of.—i) Themes and messages; ii) Violence;
iii) Nudity; iv) Sex; v) Language; vi) Drug and substance abuse; and (vii) Horror as described in the Schedule, as may be modified from time to time by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
(C) Display of Classification:
(a) The publisher of online curated content shall prominently display the classification rating specific to each content or programme together with a content descriptor informing the user about the nature of the content, and advising on viewer discretion (if applicable) at the beginning of every programme enabling the user to make an informed decision, prior to watching the programme.
(b) The publisher of online curated content making available content that is classified as U/A 13+ or higher shall ensure that access control mechanisms, including parental locks, are made available for such content.
(c) A publisher of online curated content which makes available content or programme that is classified as “A” shall implement a reliable age verification mechanism for viewership of such content.
(d) A publisher of online curated content must strive to include classification rating and consumer advice for their programmes in any print, televised or online promotional or publicity material and prominently display the classification rating specific to each such content.
(D) Restriction of access to certain curated content by a child:
Every publisher of online curated content providing access to online curated content which has an “A” rating shall take all efforts to restrict access to such content by a child through the implementation of appropriate access control measures.
(E) Measures to improve accessibility of online curated content by persons with disabilities:
Every publisher of online curated content shall, to the extent feasible, take reasonable efforts to improve the accessibility of online curated content transmitted by it to persons with disabilities through the implementation of appropriate access services.
SCHEDULE Classification of any curated content shall be guided by the following sets of guidelines, namely:—
PART I GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR CLASSIFICATION OF FILMS AND OTHER ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMMES, INCLUDING WEB BASED SERIALS There are general factors that may influence a classification decision at any level and in connection with any issue and the following factors are elucidated which may be read along with Part II of the Guidelines -
(a) Context:
Curated content may be considered in the light of the period depicted in such content and the contemporary standards of the country and the people to which such content relates.
Therefore, the context in which an issue is presented within a film or video may be given consideration. Factors such as the setting of a work (historical, fantasy, realistic, contemporary etc.), the manner of presentation of the content, the apparent intention of the content, the original production date of the content, and any special merits of the work may influence the classification decision.
(b) Theme:
Classification decisions may take into the theme of any content but will depend significantly on the treatment of that theme, especially the sensitivity of its presentation.
The most challenging themes (for example, drug misuse, violence, pedophilia, sex, racial or communal hatred or violence etc.) are unlikely to be appropriate at the junior levels of classification.
(c) Tone and impact:
Curated content may be judged in its entirety from the point of view of its overall impact.
The tone of content can be an important factor in deciding the influence it may have on various groups of people. Thus, films/serials that have a stronger depiction of violence may receive a higher classification.
(d) Target audience:
The classification of any content may also depend upon the target audience of the work and the impact of the work on such audience.
PART II ISSUE RELATED GUIDELINES This part of the guidelines comprises the issues and concerns that apply in varying degrees to all categories of classification and elaborates the general approach that may be taken in this regard to the same. These concerns are listed in alphabetical order, and are to be read with the four General Guidelines listed in Part I —
(a) Discrimination:
The categorical classification of content shall take into account the impact of a film on matters such as caste, race, gender, religion, disability or sexuality that may arise in a wide range of works, and the classification decision will take account of the strength or impact of their inclusion.
(b) Psychotropic substances, liquor, smoking and tobacco:
Films or serials, etc. that as a whole portray misuse of psychotropic substances, liquor, smoking and tobacco would qualify for a higher category of classification.
(c) Imitable behaviour:
(1) Classification decisions may take into account any portrayal of criminal and violent behaviour with weapons.
(2) Portrayal of potentially dangerous behaviour that are likely to incite the commission of any offence (including suicide, and infliction of self-harm) and that children and young people may potentially copy, shall receive a higher classification.
(3) Films or serials with song and dance scenes comprising lyrics and gestures that have sexual innuendos would receive a higher classification.
(d) Language:
(1) Language is of particular importance, given the vast linguistic diversity of our country. The use of language, dialect, idioms and euphemisms vary from region to region and are culture-specific. This factor has to be taken into account during the process of classification of a work in a particular category.
(2) Language that people may find offensive includes the use of expletives. The extent of offence may vary according to age, gender, race, background, beliefs and expectations of the target audience from the work as well as the context, region and language in which the word, expression or gesture is used.
(3) It is not possible to set out a comprehensive list of words, expressions or gestures that are acceptable at each category in every Indian language. The advice at different classification levels, therefore, provides general guidance to consider while judging the level of classification for content, based on this guideline.
(e) Nudity:
(1) No content that is prohibited by law at the time being in force can be published or transmitted.
(2) Nudity with a sexual context will receive a higher classification of “A”.
(f) Sex:
No content that is prohibited by law at the time being in force can be published or transmitted. The classification of content in various ratings from U/A 16+ to “A” shall depend upon the portrayal of non-explicit (implicit) to explicit depiction of sexual behaviour.
(g) Violence:
Classification decisions shall take account of the degree and nature of violence in a work.
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