I&B Min refuses to share info on Broadcast Bill in response to a RTI request

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has refused to share information details of the Broadcasting Service (Regulation) Bill, including a copy of the bill that was circulated to select stakeholders in July 2024 or the list to whom it was shared in response to a Right to Information (RTI) request by activist Anjali Bhardwaj.

According to a report by The Wire, the activist sought a list of all stakeholders with whom the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill was shared in July 2024. In its response, the MIB has said that the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill was “placed in the public domain on 10.11.2023 along with explanatory notes for comments of the stakeholders and the general public, which is available at this Ministry’s website www.mib.gov.in. In response, multiple recommendations/ comments/ suggestions were received from various Associations.”

The Ministry added that certain parts of the draft bill were subsequently updated, and a fresh draft will only be published after detailed consultation.It added that the bill is at the drafting stage and referred to a statement on X (formerly Twitter) put out by the ministry in August.

Also Read: Broadcast Bill 2024 draft sparks concern over secretive consultation

“Series of consultations were held with the stakeholders on the draft Bill subsequently and based upon the deliberations therein, certain parts of the Bill were updated and shared with certain participants for comments. However, it has been decided to provide additional time till 15.10.2024 to solicit comments/ suggestions on the draft Bill placed in public domain on 10.11.2023 itself and that a fresh draft will be published after detailed consultations,” it said.

The ministry also refused to provide the names of the stakeholders to whom the draft regulation was shared by citing Section B(l)(d) of the Right to Information Act 2005.

“It is informed that Section 8(l)(d) of the Right to Information Act 2005 provides that notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information and Section 8(l)(e) of the Act provides that notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information. Given the above position, the information requested in the RTI application is denied,” it said.

The Broadcast Regulation Bill 2024 and concerns around it

The MIB in August this year had released the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024 which was supposed to replace the Television Network Act of 1995. The act reportedly classified influencers or social media pages who make content or write about current affairs or any other news online as ‘digital news broadcasters’.

However, the bill raised many eyebrows as the Ministry reportedly had held closed-door meetings with a select few players in the industry and copies of the draft bill were shared with a watermark unique to the stakeholders so leaks can be tracked. The digital and social media creator industry was also upset as there was no representation of digital associations, civil society, and non-industry stakeholders about the draft bill.

Also Read: Broadcasting Bill to undergo extensive consultation

According to the reported conditions of the bill, social media influencers and other digital creators with a user base above a set limit were to be required to notify the Indian government of their presence within one month of the Bill's enactment. They would also be required to register under a three-tier regulatory framework and to establish a content evaluation committee at their own expense to review all content before publication. 

Also Read: Centre withdraws broadcasting bill 2024

However, the Ministry had reportedly withdrawn the bill and had asked the copies of the draft to be sent back after wide-scale criticism from the creative community and digital organisations about the implications of the bill and the ‘secretive’ consultation process.