Govt. suppressing truth on Broadcast Bill: Jawhar Sircar

Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal Jawhar Sircar on August 2 accused the Union government of concealing information on the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting largely sidestepped a written query by him on the contentious law. The Bill, whose original draft was put out for public consultation last year, has had a subsequent version provided confidentially to select stakeholders.

The law has been envisaged as a replacement for the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, and has drawn scrutiny for proposals to institute content evaluation committees that would pre-screen all content on streaming platforms before they are shown online. Mr. Sircar asked the government to name any “other democratic country” that subjects online content to this kind of scrutiny. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan did not address that query.

“Modi Govt suppresses truth from Parliament — but shares information with business houses and ‘stakeholders,’” Mr. Sircar, a member of the Trinamool Congress, said in a post on X on Friday. The government “HAS revised [the] Broadcasting Bill & HAS CIRCULATED [the newer draft] SECRETLY — yet it refuses to say this”.

“The stakeholders’ consultation is currently under way,” Dr. Murugan said in his reply to Mr. Sircar. Key groups that have raised concerns on growing censorship and state control of online media, such as digital rights advocacy groups and online news associations, don’t seem to be a part of this newer round of consultations.

The DIGIPUB News India Foundation, which represents over 90 digital news organisations, told the Ministry in an open letter on Friday that it requested a meeting with the Ministry in June, but did not receive a copy of the newer draft of the Bill or get an opportunity to attend closed-door meetings with the Ministry, like some media organisations did. TheHindu