In light of Allahbadia remarks, Parliament panel seeks note on changing laws

NEW DELHI: The

Parliament standing committee

on communications and information technology Thursday wrote a letter to the secretary (I&B), seeking a brief note by Feb 17 on the potential changes that could be made to existing laws governing all forms of media.
The panel, headed by BJP MP

Nishikant Dubey

, held a meeting on Parliament premises Thursday after which it sought suggestions in light of the controversy over the

vulgar remarks

made by YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia on the show '

India's Got Latent

'.
At the meet, members from different parties voiced concern on Allahbadia's comments and called for strict measures to punish him and ensure such incidents don't recur.
Most members, sources added, were of the view that laws should be amended to regulate content on social media and OTT platforms. They said existing laws should be used to take action against those airing controversial content like Allahbadia.

BJP's Anil Baluni, V D Sharma and Lahar Singh Siroya, BJD MP Sasmit Patra and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi were among those who raised the issue.
The parliamentary committee has been engaged in a keen discussion over the need to amend laws to bring social media and OTT platforms under the legal scrutiny applicable to print media and linear TV programmes. The efficacy of existing laws, which were drawn up before the explosion in the media space, has been subject to much discussion.