DHAKA, Nov 18, 2020 (BSS) – Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today said the government will take a realistic policy on ‘over-the-top’ (OTT) platform, considering own culture and global reality.
“Releasing various contents, including entertainment items, movies and dramas, through OTT platform in our country and all over the world is a growing reality,” he told reporters after a meeting at the Secretariat here.
Hasan, also the Awami League joint general secretary, said as OTT is a user-friendly medium, people are now slowly getting used to the OTT platform.
In this context, he said, there were many reports in newspapers regarding various contents here and many questions were raised about those as the contents are contrary to the country’s socioeconomic context, culture and tradition.
“Since the work of broadcasting is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Information, we said that everyone should be careful about this,” Hasan added.
Noting that initiatives have been taken in various countries to bring the OTT platform under regulation, he said a notification has recently been issued in India to upload contents on the OTT platform following regulations and informing the Indian government.
About the outcomes of the today’s meeting, the information minister said: “We discussed on taking a realistic policy on OTT platform and creating job opportunities for local entrepreneurs.”
He said foreign OTT platforms are now working in the country and they are taking away revenue. “As we have no popular OTT platform, our producers in many cases are compelled to use foreign platforms,” he added.
“We want to build a world-class OTT platform in the country that will entertain both the people of country and other countries, and we can earn from the OTT platform,” Hasan said.
In this reality, he said, there has been a preliminary discussion on whether an OTT platform could be set up through the Department of Films and Publications aiming to release films, dramas and web series.
The information minister said the journey of film industry in Bangladesh started with the hand of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
He said many timeless films had played a marked role in the struggle of freedom and the independence movement, and reconstruction of the country after the independence, but the film industry is not in a good shape now.
“That is why we have taken an initiative to form a Taka 1,000-crore special loan fund for the development of the film industry,” Hasan added.
Information Secretary Kamrun Nahar, Director General of Bangladesh Television Harun Ur Rashid, filmmakers Amitabh Reza Chowdhury and Piplu Khan, Managing Director of BFDC Nuzhat Yasmin, Director General of Film Archive Nizamul Kabir and Director General of Film and Publications Department Golam Kibria took part in the meeting.