Revised broadcast bill draft exempts news & current affairs from pre-censorship

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has come up with a revised draft of the Broadcast Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, incorporating changes based on industry feedback. A key development is the exemption of news and current affairs programs from mandatory certification by Content Evaluation Committees (CECs).

Previously, all programs were subject to CEC approval, granting the government extensive control over content. The new draft, however, offers significant relief by clearly exempting news, current affairs, educational programs, live events, children's animations, and other specified categories. 

e4M has seen a copy of the revised Broadcast Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024.

Beyond this, the revised draft clarifies the distinction between Online Curated Content Providers (OCCPs), popularly known as OTT and Broadcast Network Operators. OCCPs have been categorised as 'internet broadcasting networks', as industry stakeholders had requested.

Other modifications address various industry concerns raised during the public consultation on the 2023 draft, which concluded in January 2024.


What are they?

While the list is long, expanded definitions and inclusions stand out in the new draft. The definitions section of the second draft introduces new terms that were not present in the initial draft. These include 'advertisement intermediary,' 'Digital News Broadcaster,' and 'Ground-based broadcaster.' The introduction of these terms suggests a shift in the scope and regulatory approach of the Bill.

The revised Bill significantly expands the regulatory net to encompass individual users engaged in systematic news and current affairs dissemination.  According to the second draft of the Bill, ‘Digital News Broadcaster” or ‘publisher of news and current affairs content" means any person who broadcasts news and current affairs programs through an online paper, news portal, website, social media intermediary, or other similar medium as part of a systematic business, professional or commercial activity but excluding replica e-papers.

Additionally, ‘Ground-based broadcaster’ means a person providing ground-based channels to the broadcasting network operators; and ‘Ground-based channels’ means channels transmitted on cable broadcasting network and IPTV network but excluding satellite channels, platform services, any channel of Prasar Bharati or any channel operated by or on behalf of Parliament of India.

In the second draft of the Bill, the definition of ‘News and current affairs programmes’ has been expanded to include textual content and the term ‘broadcasting network’ has been omitted.

The revised definition describes such programmes as ‘newly-received or noteworthy textual, audio, visual, or audio-visual programmes or live programmes, including analysis, about recent events primarily of socio-political, economic, or cultural nature, or any programmes transmitted or retransmitted, where the context, purpose, import, and meaning of such programmes implies so.’

This contrasts with the first draft, which defined these programmes as ‘newly-received or noteworthy audio, visual, or audio-visual programmes or live programmes, including analysis, about recent events primarily of socio-political, economic, or cultural nature, or any programmes transmitted or retransmitted on broadcasting network, where the context, purpose, import, and meaning of such programmes implies so.’

The second draft of the Bill also introduces the term ‘social media intermediaries’.

According to this draft, a ‘Social media intermediary’ is defined as an entity that primarily or solely facilitates online interactions between two or more users. This includes enabling users to create, upload, share, disseminate, modify, or access information using its services.

This new definition marks a significant addition to the Bill, reflecting an expanded regulatory focus that encompasses platforms which facilitate user-generated content and interaction, beyond traditional broadcasting channels.

Despite these improvements, the draft retains contentious provisions such as criminal penalties for individuals and companies, mandatory disclosure of CEC member details to the Ministry, and the potential for a uniform regulatory framework for both television and online content. These aspects continue to raise concerns among industry stakeholders.