Broadcasting Bill Withdrawn: The most recent draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2014 was withdrawn by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Monday. All parties involved were asked to return physical copies that were supplied to them between July 24 and July 25. Information is anonymous but stated by insiders. As part of an ongoing consultation process that started when the government uploaded the initial draft in November 2023, the draft was distributed for comments and opinions.
An Official stated that it is still unclear if the current draft would be completely redone or if just specific portions will be changed from the most recent version. Which was not made public but was shared with a few stakeholders who received watermarked copies.
Criticism Faced by the Broadcasting Bill
When people saw the most recent draft of the bill, several of its contents and the manner in which the consultation process was being conducted raised serious red flags. Draft measures that may classify the majority of online influencers as broadcasters. If they cover current issues in their work have drawn significant attention.
Many online content creators, including independent journalists on YouTube and Instagram, “thought leaders” on LinkedIn, and Newsletter writers, may be classified as either OTT broadcasters or digital news broadcasters, depending on the circumstances, another most recent version of the broadcasting services (regulation) bill of BSRB.
Further Action
The ministry of information and broadcasting issued the following statement. “In response to numerals comments proposals and recommendations were received from several associations. The Ministry is hosting several meetings with interested parties to discuss the proposed legislation.”
The ministry added that until October 15 there will be for the time to submit recommendations and criticisms. After thorough consultations, a new draft will be released according to the statement. A number of social media posts claim that the purpotedly amended bill provisions were making the rounds which Spark criticism for certain content creators.
Broadcasting Regulation Bill
Then now retracted 2024 bill sort to categorised other creators as OTT broadcasting services and news influences as digital news broadcasters. According to the draft bill, OTT broadcasting service providers and digital news broadcasters must notify the union government. About the operation within a month of the proposed day is the legislation’s announcement.
The measure also suggested a number of other creative compliance criteria. A move that has raised concerns about sponsorship and restriction of free speech.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting held closed-door consultations with select group of stakeholders last week. According to representatives of the Editor’s Guild of India and Digipub of News India Foundation. Which represents over 90 digital news publishers. With digital media organisations sensible society associations have not yet taken place. They had requested copies of the draft bill in writing for the ministry. But they have not heard back anything in return.
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