{"id":3668,"date":"2016-03-04T08:25:43","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T02:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3668"},"modified":"2016-03-04T08:25:43","modified_gmt":"2016-03-04T02:55:43","slug":"could-censorship-spell-the-end-of-netflix-and-chill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3668","title":{"rendered":"Could Censorship Spell the End of Netflix and Chill?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span><\/p>he current government seems to have a give-and-take relationship with the people of this country \u2013 we gave them our votes and they seem to be taking away everything we love. I can live under a beef ban and a <\/span>porn <\/span><\/a>shadowban, and I\u2019ve even survived demonetisation, but now I\u2019m scared they are going to come after the one thing I might actually die without: my Netflix subscription.<\/span>\n\nThis week, a mass panic set in among the people who prefer to spend their weekends prone on the couch. An article in The Print reported that Netflix representatives had met with the officials of the I&B Ministry, and agreed to <\/span>self-censor<\/span><\/a> its content. Ring the alarm! The best part about online streaming is not having to put up with the puritanical censorship that mangles TV shows and films. We shell out good money for the privilege of watching uncut content, the way its makers intended, so the news of any kind of censorship at all will make subscribers as happy as Yogi Adityanath in a Kansas steakhouse.<\/span>\n\nThankfully, before I could split an artery, Netflix <\/span>denied the story<\/span><\/a> about opting for self-censorship. For this weekend at least, those Netflix and Chill plans can remain in place. Yet, I can\u2019t shake the feeling that this a false dawn, just a temporary setback in a long-term plan to muzzle freedom of expression online.<\/span>\n\nSelf-censorship is a bogeyman that has been stalking streaming content in India for months now. It\u2019s almost like <\/span>Acche Din<\/span><\/a>, you feel it\u2019s right around the corner \u2014 the only difference is nobody is waiting for self-censorship to arrive. Since September this year, reports have been floating around about how Video On Demand (VOD) services are likely to adopt an industry-wide set of guidelines to prevent \u201coffensive content\u201d appearing on their platforms.<\/span>\n\nBut what exactly is \u201coffensive\u201d content? A complaint filed in the Delhi High Court accuses VODs like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, and others of airing \u201cvulgar, sexually explicit, pornographic, profane, virulent, religiously forbidden and morally unethical content\u201d. Wow. That\u2019s a lot to unpack in one complaint. But here\u2019s another, this one from a PIL filed before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court in October this year: \u201cThe screening of pornographic contents, vulgar gestures and talks are overriding the Indian culture and morality,\u201d it states. These are vague, nebulous accusations, and the people making them sound as clueless as Donald Trump <\/span>tweeting<\/span><\/a> about Diwali.<\/span>\n

The approach of our moral custodians to art can be summed up by the mantra, \u201cIf we can\u2019t understand, or of it makes us uncomfortable, then it must be banned.\u201d<\/blockquote>\nLook no further than former Central Bureau of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani\u2019s petition for proof. In arguing against cuts made to his most-recent film, he tried the schoolboy gambit of \u201cbut teacher he was yelling louder!\u201d by attempting to paint VODs as amoral peddlers of filth. Here\u2019s an extract from the petition, reproduced verbatim: \u201cIt is an unhidden fact that recently, a company known as Netflex started a Website known as \u2018Secret Game\u2019 which has become very popular however, all the films and programmes shown in the said website are purely adult programme and it could be said the same are in the nature of blue films.\u201d Such a savvy man. Clearly, <\/span>Pahlaj <\/span><\/a>is too sanskari to Netflix and Chill, but can we really blame him? The poor guy mixed up website with web series. This is the man who was in charge of India\u2019s film certification board not too long ago.<\/span>\n\nWith great minds like Pahlaj Nihalani dictating what adults are allowed to watch, it\u2019s no wonder that TV shows and movies being broadcast in India feel neutered. I tried watching <\/span>Gladiator <\/span><\/i>on Star Movies, but they cut out the best parts of every action scene. Because of course, Russell Crowe can stab someone, but I\u2019m not allowed to see the blood. The madness doesn\u2019t stop at TV, but extends to movie theatres as well. And it\u2019s not just violence, but anything which might offend the sanskari sensibilities of our state-appointed nannies. The poor version of 007 who swaggers into Indian theatres must have the world\u2019s worst case of blue balls, since the camera always cuts away right after he locks lips with one of the <\/span>Bond <\/span><\/a>girls. And even in films which have been awarded an A certificate such as <\/span>A Star in Born<\/span><\/i>, Lady Gaga\u2019s breasts are blurred. <\/span>\n\nThis points to an unsettling tendency of the establishment to simply proscribe anything that doesn\u2019t suit its perspective. We are a nation that fails to understand the concept of regulation. Our first resolve is censorship, and somehow the ones in power believe that is a solution. The behaviour of the <\/span>CBFC <\/span><\/a>is a symptom of this attitude. A body meant originally for certification, the CBFC has of its own volition assumed the role of censor, banning films outright like they did with <\/span>Black Friday<\/span><\/i>, or demanding wanton cuts and delaying releases like they did with <\/span>Lipstick Under My Burkha<\/span><\/i>. The approach of our moral custodians to art can be summed up by the mantra, \u201cIf we can\u2019t understand, or of it makes us uncomfortable, then it must be banned.\u201d<\/span>\n\nApart from the obvious fallout of this censorship reaching VOD services (<\/span>GoT <\/span><\/i>episodes will be half their length, duh), there is another long-term danger to VOD regulation. A piece in <\/span>The Guardian<\/span><\/i> titled \u201c<\/span>Web Censorship: The Net is Closing In<\/span><\/a>\u201d paints a bleak portrayal of what could happen if states are allowed to clamp down on internet services unchecked. VOD regulation is one of the first steps on the road to the \u201cBalkanisation of the internet,\u201d where the internet is no longer a borderless, global, egalitarian platform, but an interconnected network of intranets, each adhering to its own set of regulations that deprive users access to information and entertainment their governments don\u2019t want them seeing. \u201cWhat started as the world wide web will begin to look more like the world itself, full of internal divisions and divergent interests,\u201d the report warns. <\/span>\n\nJust like the free press, the free <\/span>internet <\/span><\/a>is also under threat. We\u2019re on the cusp of what could be a transformative time in the history of how we view content online, and entertainment as we know it might never be the same. This could be our reality sooner than we think. <\/span>\n\nI\u2019ll start preparing for the end of Netflix and Chill. But can I just please watch the final season of <\/span>GoT <\/span><\/i>in peace?<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Netflix denied reports of self-censorship, but this may be our reality sooner than we think. Just like the free press, the free internet is also under threat. And this might deprive us of access to information and entertainment that our governments don\u2019t want us seeing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":3669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[197],"tags":[5870,6881,6882,6883,6884,1341,6885,6886],"class_list":["post-3668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-action","tag-chill","tag-cnesorship","tag-crow","tag-gladiator","tag-netflix","tag-nihlani","tag-russel"],"yoast_head":"\nCould Censorship Spell the End of Netflix and Chill?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Netflix denied reports of self-censorship, but this may be our reality sooner than we think. 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