The government announced on Monday that a new draft of the proposed Draft law on the regulation of broadcasting services is published. This comes after some alleged provisions of the bill raised concerns among online content creators who claimed that they were to be lumped together with OTT or digital news channels.
In a statement, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said: “In response, numerous recommendations/comments/suggestions were received, including from various associations. The Ministry is currently conducting a series of consultations with stakeholders on the draft bill.”
The ministry further announced that additional time would be given until October 15 to collect comments and suggestions. After extensive consultation, a new draft would be published, it said.
The draft bill was made publicly available for consultation on 11 November 2023. However, the opposition claimed that a revised version of the draft “secretly” passed on to a few selected stakeholdersThe matter was also raised in the Rajya Sabha by Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar.
Several social media posts claimed that content from the allegedly revised bill was circulating, which provoked strong reactions from a section of content creators.
According to some reports, the revised bill is expected to classify Instagram influencers and YouTubers as “digital news broadcasters” to define their user base. This would require them to register with the government beforehand to set standards for rating content, raising concerns about free expression.
According to reports, these digital news channels will be separated from OTT broadcasting services and registered digital media. The first draft of the bill had already proposed that OTT platforms, which have the freedom to create any kind of content, will be bound by a programming code.
Last week, representatives of the DigiPub News India Foundation – an organisation representing more than 90 digital news publishers – and the Editors Guild of India said India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had held closed-door consultations with select stakeholders and that major discussions with digital media organisations and civil society associations had not taken place so far.
They had submitted copies of the draft law to the Ministry in writing, but received no response.
