BREAKING: MIB to issue fresh draft of Broadcasting Bill post consultations

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is planning to publish another draft of Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill.

After getting mixed feedback from different quarters on the existing draft of Bill, the Ministry said it would be issuing a fresh draft post a thorough stakeholders consultation.

The Ministry is said to be holding a series of consultations with the stakeholders on the draft Bill and the deadline for the consultation has been extended till October 15, 2024.

A fresh draft now will be published after detailed consultations.

A few of the stakeholders, who received the copy of the draft, have been demanded to return the hard copy of the Bill without any feedback.

The first draft Bill was placed in public domain on November 10, 2023 along with the explanatory notes for comments of the stakeholders and the general public.

The second and most recent draft, which has only been shared with a handful of stakeholders a few weeks ago, has drawn sharp criticism from various groups- from social media creators to politicians and broadcast industry stakeholders.

It proposed regulations on independent news creators on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and X, expanding its remit from OTT content and digital news content.

With the new draft Bill, the Centre tried to push for a consolidated legal framework to organise the broadcasting sector, including OTTs and online creators - overhauling all the existing policies. The Bill is said to replace one of the earlier key regulations for cable television, governed by the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act of 1995.

It mandated that OTT broadcasting service operators or digital news broadcasters shall within one month from the publication of the Act provide an intimation to the government of its operations- along with its number of subscribers, and viewers. Additionally, as a user of social media intermediaries, they shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with all the requirements under the Act.

Various groups, including Congress leaders recently alleged that the proposed law increases government control over content creators, from social media influencers to independent news outlets, threatens the independence of the press, and restricts free speech.

Also, it was pointed out that the process of drafting the Bill "did not include civil society, journalists and key stakeholders, raising concerns about transparency and inclusivity."

The stakeholders who were given copies of the second draft were asked to submit their comments by August 10.