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Govt to release fresh draft for broadcast bill
The MIB will publish a new draft of the Broadcasting Services Bill, 2024 after consultations, addressing concerns from stakeholders about provisions affecting online content creators.
The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) said on Monday it will publish a fresh draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024 after detailed consultations, hours after it asked stakeholders to return watermarked physical copies of an updated version that was circulated between July 24 and 25.
The move came against the backdrop of what officials and experts said were certain misgivings relating to the provisions, especially those contained in the latest draft that were circulated among entities such as streaming platforms and social media companies, TV channels and related industry associations who were part of the consultation process.
“The draft Bill was placed in public domain on 10.11.2023 along with the explanatory notes for comments of the stakeholders and the general public. In response, multiple recommendations/ comments/ suggestions were received including from various associations. 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,” the MIB said in a post on X.
The consultation process on the bill has been on since November 2023, when the first draft was uploaded by the ministry. To be sure, the government did not comment on the draft it circulated to selected stakeholders in July.
According to multiple people aware of the matter, the government told stakeholders on Monday that comments were no longer required on the July version.
“The consultation is still on. There are certain misgivings which need to be addressed. [These misgivings] have been discussed in the public domain and on digital media. There are a lot of apprehensions on digital media. We may call for more stakeholders to discuss the matter in more detail,” said a senior government official, asking not to be named.
A second official, on the condition of anonymity, said that it is currently not yet clear whether it will be redrafted in its entirety or if only particular sections would be redrawn from the latest draft.
The latest version of the bill, first reported by HT on July 26, drew significant concerns over some of the provisions and how the consultation process was being carried out.
The most controversial provisions ran the risk of tagging all online content creators as broadcasters, irrespective of the content they dealt with.
Between May 29 and July 9, the ministry held at least four meetings at Shastri Bhawan to discuss the bill, with attendees including Big Tech companies (Google, Meta, Snap), online streaming platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Jio Cinemas), Spotify, DTH operators (Airtel, Tata Play), and related industry associations.
“Nothing is confirmed about the draft. We will continue the consultation. We will try to include everyone who has not been in the room for consultation,” the senior official added.
The latest version — which stakeholders have been asked to return — contained provisions that can classify all online content creators, including independent journalists on YouTube and Instagram, “thought leaders” on LinkedIn, newsletter writers and people running cooking shows online, as either OTT broadcasters or as digital news broadcasters.
Consequently, these broadcasters, if they were above a threshold defined by the government, would then have been required to set up Content Evaluation Committee (CEC) to pre-certify content, among other obligations.
The latest version also sought to lay down due diligence guidelines for intermediaries with respect to programmes broadcast through them and sought to regulate advertising intermediaries, raising questions about whether sponsored posts by influencers online would also be governed by the advertising code meant for OTT broadcasters.
