Editorial: Digital dictatorship

The new draft of Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill raises concerns as it provides sweeping powers to the Centre to control digital media

A new draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, currently under industry consultations, has raised serious concerns over the fate of media freedom in the country as it seeks to redefine digital news broadcasters in a sweeping way. Apart from stifling the regulatory framework, it contains provisions to label individual content creators, who upload multimedia content related to current affairs on various social media platforms, as digital news broadcasters. Social media influencers and other digital creators with a user base above a set limit will be required to notify the government of their presence within one month of the new law coming into force. They must also register under a three-tier regulatory framework and will also be required to establish a content evaluation committee at their own expense to review all content before publication. This is the second draft of the Bill, which aims to address the ambiguities identified in the initial draft presented for public consultation in November last year. Instead of addressing the shortcomings, the new draft has raised more concerns as it provides sweeping powers to the central government to control digital media. It seeks to consolidate the legal framework for the broadcasting sector and extend it to OTT content and digital news and current affairs as well. In addition to the IT Rules, 2021, the government can demand registration, enforce censorship and even require platforms such as YouTube to frame special compliance not only for news channels but also for creators.

One of the key concerns is the proposal to make it mandatory for every broadcaster, including the OTT players, to establish Content Evaluation Committees (CEC) to ostensibly promote ‘robust self-regulation’. These CECs will be responsible for evaluating the content produced by streaming platforms, ensuring that it adheres to the standards set by the government. A broadcaster will be required to inform the government of the names, credentials and other details of members of a CEC on their websites. This move is seen as a blow to the right to privacy. All the members of the proposed Broadcast Advisory Council (BAC) will be nominated by the Centre. Since the BAC will have a final say on censoring content across all broadcasting mediums, the government may push for content censorship through the Council. Some experts have warned that a historic opportunity to liberalise the broadcast sector has been squandered away by the Centre because of its paternalistic mechanism of censorship. The proposed CECs, coupled with excessive government control, could stifle creativity and artistic expression. The broadcasting law, seeking to replace the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act of 1995 and other guidelines currently governing the broadcasting sector, comes in the wake of mounting scrutiny on streaming companies operating in India, especially regarding content-related issues. However, it does not address the conflict of interest and opaque issues in media regulation.

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