Govt Withdraws Controversial Broadcasting Bill, To Float Fresh Draft

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has withdrawn the controversial Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023 after outcry from stakeholders.

Meanwhile, the MIB has now extended the timeline for stakeholders to provide suggestions on the draft norms till October 15.

“(The) 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,” it said in a post on X on Monday (August 12). 

Meanwhile, sources told Hindustan Times that the MIB has directed all stakeholders to return physical copies of the latest draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024 given to them between July 24 and 25.

It is pertinent to note that the draft was only shared with certain stakeholders, all of whom received watermarked copies of the latest Bill.

As per the report, it is currently not yet clear if the bill would be redrafted in its entirety or only particular sections would be redrawn from the new draft. 

The draft was originally circulated for feedback in November last year, when the proposed rules were first uploaded by the ministry on its website. However, last month, reports surfaced that the ministry had forwarded the latest 2024 version of the proposed law to the concerned stakeholders. 

The latest version of the draft bill drew criticism from all stakeholders, with industry participants reportedly flagging that the proposed provisions could potentially tag online influencers as broadcasters and classify them as digital news broadcasters.

Additionally, creators, classified as digital news broadcasters, were also mandated under the proposed norms to establish content evaluation committees (CEC) at their own expenses and inform the government about the same. Non-compliance with the rules would result in penalties of up to INR 2.5 Cr. 

The latest iteration of the bill also empowered the union government to prohibit the transmission of a programme or the operation of a broadcaster in the interest of public or national security.

Even the previous 2023 version of the bill saw vehement criticism from multiple quarters, with industry bodies claiming that the rules were formulated without consultation. 

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