Digital news players raise concerns about the Draft Broadcast regulation bill

Ritu Kapur, co-founder and managing director of Quint Digital Media Limited and the general secretary of DIGIPUB; Ravish Kumar, Anant Nath, editor, The Caravan and president of EGI, Apar Gupta, advocate and co-founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation raised concerns.

DigiPub- a digital news media organisation that represents almost 100 digital media players recently held a press conference during which concerns about the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024 and its implications on the freedom of expression and independence of media.

Addressing the press conference were Anant Nath,  Editor of Caravan and President of the Editors Guild of India; Ritu Kapur, General Secretary of DigiPub News India Foundation, independent journalist and ex-editor of NDTV Ravish Kumar and Advocate Apar Gupta. The panel unanimously requested the government to be transparent about the details of the Bill and raised the possible implications of the Act incase it passes.

According to Kapur, the draft Broadcast Bill significantly broadens the regulatory scope of the government and how it defines a broadcaster. She says the draft has been shared only with a select group of stakeholders and each copy has been watermarked to prevent leaks. However, there have been no broader discussions involving digital media organisations, associations, or civil society.

“I hope this conference will pave the way for further outreach,” she said.

Nath further discussed the rising attempts to regulate media in the country. He says any regulatory body where the government is the final authority poses a serious threat to democracy and contradicts the principles the government claims to uphold according to our Constitution.

“Both the Broadcast Bill and the IT Rules position the government as the ultimate arbiter. The government can participate, but it should not be the final authority or hold a majority influence,” Nath added.

Kumar on the other hand expressed the economical impact of the Act on the content creation community. 

“This bill has a chilling effect on the creative environment in the country. Millions of people, including many housewives, have turned to content creation as a means of livelihood. These regulations create an atmosphere of fear, which is detrimental to a democracy and, ultimately, to the Government itself.” 

He further questioned the silence of mainstream media on the issue and called the Government to issue clarifications about the bill. 

Apar Gupta on the other hand gave an overview of the possible implications of the Act on news media organisations and independent creators.

“The bill grants additional powers to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), which not only broadens the scope of the act to digital news publishers but also to individual creators. For example, someone running a cooking channel or even a rapper creating content would need to comply with these regulations.” 

“ Although the Broadcast Service Bill 2024 is not yet public, some details have leaked, prompting concerns among individuals. Despite this, there has been no official clarification or denial from the Government.”

He says under the bill's provisions, OTT platforms and digital news media are both considered broadcasters. According to him, it impacts the business of small media houses and individual creators.

“Digital news media or creators would also need to appoint a grievance committee and join a self-regulatory organisation approved by the Ministry. Failure to comply could result in criminal penalties. The bill also grants the Government discretion in choosing which creators to prosecute, including shutting down channels, banning content, and imposing prison sentences of two to five years.”

“Even content creators who don’t focus on news or current affairs would fall under its scope. Imagine uploading a reel or tweet and if you haven’t registered with the Government, they could accuse you of non-compliance,” he expresses.

He further states that this would particularly impact creators from marginalised communities, who would be forced to disclose their official names, addresses, or even Aadhaar card details.