Censorship has been a big issue in this country. Especially how the Censor Board imposes a ban on stuff that can be shown on not only on the big screen but your TV sets too. Which has ultimately led to a degradation in the content and artistic value of the movies and shows aired in India. But this Censorship is taking a plunge now!

It is called Voluntary self-censorship

Big online content streaming players like Netflix, Hotstar and Reliance Jio and some others as well are going to sign up for voluntary self-censorship. What this means is that these online streaming sites are going to censor their content according to their own liking in accordance with the rules set by the Central Censor Board of the country.

Categorize.. Don’t rule!

In simpler words, it is time that you stop talking to your friends abroad about what they watch or binge on. You probably won’t be able to watch it the way they do. First of all, it is gross misconduct that these big players and the Censor Body is taking as it plays with the artistic integrity of the content.

There is a reason why all movies and shows or even videos that you watch, go through an editing phase. The Censor Board’s work is basically categorizing and not imposing rules on what can or cannot be shown.

Violation of rights?

Second of all, this is clearly a violation of a free world and a free virtual world on the Internet. What one consumes as content is his or her own choice. The Government has no say in it. And the companies that are going to adopt this measure are doing so just because they want a pre-emptive way out before the Government actually takes measures in the online streaming category.

Fortunately for us, streaming sites like Amazon, Google, and Facebook are on our side. Their philosophy is that imposing such Censorship on online content is completely against the very reason why something like Net-Neutrality exists.

The only question remaining here is, what are you going to do about it? Or to put it better, which side are you on?