The rise of over-the-top (OTT) services, which offer broadcasters, content providers, advertisers and social media users a new online platform for communication, has prompted a debate on the need for a level playing field that pits traditional broadcasters against these newcomers.
Like broadcasting regulators in many other countries, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has recently worked on a regulatory framework to govern the new platform and ensure a fair game.
While regulation is needed to bring about fair and transparent business practices, to enhance data protection and to protect consumers against fake, fraudulent and violent information, the NBTC must walk a fine line between establishing industry standards and curbing freedom of expression.
It needs to ensure that the new regulation will not add unnecessary burdens to the average internet user as well as not being used as a new tool for authorities to hunt down politically driven social media pages and OTT broadcasters.
The OTT business is categorised by the NBTC as a TV broadcasting services that does not use any frequency, similar to cable and satellite TV. It can be either an advertising-driven free platform, such as Line TV or YouTube, or paid services, such as Netflix or AIS Play.
From a business operation perspective, there is the need for the establishment of industry standards to be applied to business operators.
Commercial broadcasters and content providers along with advertisers have capitalised on the available platforms without being forced to pay corporate taxes or any fees to the state. NBTC broadcasting committee chairman, Col Natee Sukonrat, yesterday said the regulation will impose corporate taxes on commercial operations. This is a sensible idea.
Additionally, during meetings with stakeholder groups in the OTT business this week, Col Natee informed them that his agency wanted to establish a level playing field for all OTT businesses and has also created a control list for platform operators and content providers. Some stakeholders expressed continued confusion over the new regulation and cast doubt on how it will work.
While the NBTC has said it will apply traditional broadcasting standards to OTT operators, it yesterday said it has no plan to impose a licence regime on them or require them to obtain broadcast licences.
Moreover, lots of user-generated content such as Facebook pages, videos on YouTube, and Instagram accounts are not commercially driven and therefore it remains vague to what extent the NBTC will apply industry standards to them.
What sounds controversial is its plan to put the top 100 content providers on OTT platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, whose followers or subscribers are more than one million. Col Natee said this is to curb content which influences public opinion, but which is difficult to regulate.
The NBTC suggested it would apply the after-the-fact framework that will let it investigate content put under this list upon receiving complaints. Without clear guidance on what constitutes the basis for making complaints, this approach will create confusion when it comes to execution.
The framework can risk being used selectively and politically against individuals, especially Facebook pages driven by politically sensitive content.
In fact, Thai online broadcast media are already tightly regulated by their own self-censorship measures, the Computer Crime Act and other related laws.
Since consulting with stakeholders last month, the NBTC has mainly floated its ideas and promised a draft that will come out next week and take effect in August. Such a time frame is tight. The NBTC must allow the public sufficient time to provide input on the new regulation and ensure that it offers sufficient clarifications on key issues.
More importantly, the broadcasting regulator must ensure its regulations do not become a new agent against freedom of expression.