Following massive outrage, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) has withdrawn the current version of the controversial draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) bill for now. However, the draft has not been scrapped as the I&B Ministry announced that it is extending the deadline for receiving feedback on the Bill to October 15, in view of wider consultations with all the “concerned stakeholders”.
The I&B statement says, “The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting is working on a Draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill. The draft Bill was placed in public domain on 10.11.2023 along with the explanatory notes for comments of the stakeholders and the general public.”
The I&B further said, “In response, multiple recommendations/ comments/ suggestions were received including from various Associations. The Ministry is holding a series of consultations with the stakeholders on the draft Bill. Further additional time is being provided to solicit comments/ suggestions till m October 15, 2024.”
I&B also added that a new draft of the Bill will be published after “detailed consultations”.
On November 10, 2023, the I&B Ministry placed the draft Bill in the public domain along with the explanatory notes seeking comments from stakeholders and the general public. Later, after the Modi government came to power again, a new version of the draft was made, but was not circulated publicly. Acting with utmost secrecy, the ministry gave copies of the draft to certain industry bodies, that too with watermarks on it, so that any leak could be traced.
The draft Bill wanted to bring a license regime for all news and non-news content creators on the Internet. Content creators had to appoint content evaluation committees to certify their programmes and also be part of a three-tier regulatory structure. The draft aimed to include YouTubers and Instragrammers beyond a certain threshold of users, and they will have to register with the I&B ministry within a month of the Bill being passed.
The conditions had also applied to streaming platforms and online influencers based on a Ministry’s earlier notification.
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) had pointed out that every broadcaster covered under the Ministry’s “regulatory ambit” would be required to comply with a code prescribed by the government and failure to do so would lead to monetary penalties or even imprisonment.