In response to concerns expressed in certain sectors regarding the proposed law’s limitations on social and digital media space, the government announced on Monday that it will hold more consultations in order to produce a new version of the broadcasting bill.
Media organisations including DigiPub and the Editors Guild of India criticised the government’s draft Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, claiming that civil society associations and digital media companies were not consulted before the bill was introduced. The government had distributed the bill to a small group of stakeholders.
A number of stakeholder discussions on the draft law are being held by the ministry. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry stated in a post on X that further time is being given to receive feedback and suggestions until October 15, 2024.
The government stated that following thorough consultations, a new draft will be released.
The government announced that a draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill was under development.
According to the ministry, on November 10, 2023, the draft Bill and its accompanying explanatory notes were made available for public comment by interested parties and members of the public.
It stated that several suggestions, comments, and recommendations—including those from different associations—were received in response.
An earlier iteration of the bill attempted to bring digital news broadcasters and over-the-top (OTT) content makers under the ministry’s Content and Advertisement Code.
Once they reached a certain number of subscribers, the requirements would have required each online content makers to choose a grievance redressal officer and a content evaluation committee.