The schism has left broadcaster-owned OTT platforms on the IBF side and standalone streaming platforms on the IAMAI side.

Sridhar Vembu, the billionaire founder of Zoho asserted that social media platforms must follow the laws of the land and stop dictating terms.

This development comes amidst escalating skirmishes between the government and international messaging and social media platforms. WhatsApp this week asked the Delhi High Court to strike down the government’s new intermediary rules for social media that mandate tracing the origins of "unlawful" messages within 72 hours.

Around 60 publishers and their associations have informed the ministry that they have already initiated the process of the formation of self-regulatory bodies under the rule.

IBDF is in the process of forming a new wholly-owned subsidiary to handle all matters pertaining to digital media.

In a separate notification, the government also said that a social media platform with more than 5 million registered users in India will be considered a 'Significant Social Media Intermediary'.

A BARC India spokesperson pointed out that with partial lockdowns and limitations on movement in several parts of the country this trend (reruns) is once more clearly visible.

Any corporation doing business in any country must adhere to the law of the land. The brazen attitude of the US-headquartered big tech platforms has shown that they have no respect for Indian law. The government must levy steep penalties if the social media platforms do not fall in line.

The ZEEL MD and CEO was addressing the analysts during the company's Q4 FY21 earnings conference call.