Amid criticism, centre to prepare fresh draft of broadcasting bill

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, August 13, 2024: The government said it will hold further consultations and publish a fresh draft of the Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill after certain provisions of the previous draft raised concerns among online content creators as it sought to club them with OTT or digital news broadcasters, bringing them under the ambit of the ministry’s Content and Advertisement Code.

The previous draft bill and explanatory notes were placed in the public domain in November last year.

Media bodies such as DigiPub and the Editors Guild of India claimed that digital media organisations and civil society associations were not consulted on the move.

The draft bill also drew criticism from the opposition Congress with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accusing the government of trying to "gag" digital media, social media, OTT platforms and those who write and speak in a private capacity by bringing in the bill.

The government, on the other hand, has maintained that the bill is still at the drafting stage and consultation with stakeholders is currently underway.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting today said that additional time has been given to stakeholders till October 15.

"The Ministry is holding a series of consultations with the stakeholders on the draft bill. A fresh draft will be published after detailed consultations," the ministry said in a post on X.

The bill seeks to directly regulate streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+Hotstar as over-the-top, or OTT, broadcasting services.

The provisions in the draft bill would have made it mandatory for individual online content creators to appoint a grievance redressal officer and a content evaluation committee once they crossed a certain number of subscribers.

If cleared, it would replace Cable Television Network Act as well as a slew of policies and guidelines drawn up later to plug holes.