Navigating Creative Expression In The OTT Era: Striking A Balance Between Artistic Freedom And Censorship.

Amidst a swiftly changing landscape, Over-the-top platforms have revolutionized India's media and entertainment sphere. As the global approach to content creation, curation, distribution, and consumption undergoes a paradigmatic shift, the significance of OTT platforms for Indian viewers remains paramount. Their distinct value was especially highlighted during the pandemic and has continued to be embraced by audiences. Over-the-top (OTT) platforms are not just reshaping the digital terrain but also revolutionizing Indians' outlook on entertainment. Long-running traditional TV series are being supplanted by shows on platforms like Netflix, and Amazon Prime, signalling a shift in market dynamics from conventional to technological paradigms. In light of their growing significance and impact on society, concerns related to censorship also arise. Censorship is deeply rooted in our country’s history. Be it movies we do not like, paintings we find offensive, books that break our religious beliefs, etc. Censorship has always been in existence in various media including theatres, print, television, etc and the sword of censorship is now come to hang in the heads of OTT platforms as well. The authors of this paper aim to provide an extensive analysis of existing laws relating to the regulation of online content that has been produced or created by OTT players in India and also analyse how other countries are regulating the OTT platforms. The objective of the paper would be to assess how restricting content on OTT platforms affects artistic freedom. Lastly, this paper also outlines how the typical concept of censorship ignores the fact that in addition to being used to legally restrict legitimate hate speech and obscenity, censorship can also be abused to hide facts and truths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]