Govt to release new draft of Broadcasting Bill

The Ministry of Broadcasting and Information on August 12 said that a fresh draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill will be published after detailed consultations.

This comes after the MIB on August 12 asked stakeholders to return the copies of the controversial Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, that was circulated earlier with select stakeholders, three sources told Moneycontrol.

Several stakeholders received calls from the MIB on August 12 asking them to return the physical copies of the draft without any feedback.

Later, on August 12 evening, MIB said that a fresh draft will be published post October, 2024. The ministry as of now is inviting comments on the 2023 draft of the bill till October 15. This particular draft was released in November 2023.

As it stands, the 2024 draft, which was shared only with a select group of stakeholders for consultation, is now withdrawn.

“Ministry is holding a series of consultations with the stakeholders on the draft bill. Further additional time is being provided to solicit comments/ suggestions till 15th October, 2024. A fresh draft will be published after detailed consultations,” MIB said in a post on X.

The government had held consultations on the 2024 draft with select groups of stakeholders, although it did not release the draft publicly. The approach had drawn criticism from various groups who were urging the government to release it to the public.

The now withdrawn 2024 bill proposed to designate news influencers as digital news broadcaster, and other creators as OTT Broadcasting Service. The draft bill said that within a period of one month from the notification of this proposed legislation, OTT broadcasting service operators and digital news broadcasters will have to provide an intimation to the Union government about their operations.

The bill also proposed several other compliance requirements of creators, a move which has evoked concerns of stifling of freedom of speech and censorship. MoneyControl