Draft Broadcasting Bill Ignites Censorship Fears, Streaming Platforms Get A Breather

The first draft itself saw content creators getting into a brainstorming huddle in December, triggering outcry against the proposed legislations, with creators claiming that this would give the Government the power to censor all programs.

An overwhelming majority thought that the Bill will empower the Government to brand individual content creators as “digital news broadcasters”, thus subjecting them to severe and punitive scrutiny. The new Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill 2024 will replace the 30-year-old Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.

 “It seeks to address the changing complexion of news broadcasts by bringing under its ambit and regulating broadcasters across platforms, such as television, OTT (Over-the-top) and social media,” the Government said.

At a meeting organized by Digipub, an organization of nearly 100 digital news media, independent journalists and commentators, content creators said: “The (proposed laws) will imperil encrypted communication, make it easier to shut down the Internet and intercept communications with minimal accountability.”

Content creators have called for a discussion Consequently, the Editors Guild of India has reached out to the Government and sought a meeting on the proposed Bill.

 “We have sent two formal requests asking the Ministry for a copy of the Bill, but haven’t received any response,” its president Anant Nath said. Nath also said a stuttering point in this vexed issue is that repeated overtures are going unheeded and consultation is being conducted in a “deeply problematic” manner.

“It seems like confidential copies of the Bill have been shared with a few select stakeholders. Further, the copies have been shared in a manner in which they cannot be shared further.”

Digipub also wrote letters in June and again last week to Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw, requesting him for a meeting. Asked about the updated draft Bill, Digipub said in a statement: “We hope to hear from them and have a meaningful engagement.”

“No Move To Censor Or Censure”

The Government has rubbished any intent or attempt to enforce censorship or impose restrictions on any particular media segment. “With the New Broadcasting Bill, the Centre is only pushing for a consolidated legal framework to organise the broadcasting sector, replacing all existing policies,” it said.

That being said, almost content creators who have been speaking out volubly against the Government on social media and related platforms are being brought under the scope of the Bill.

It is perhaps this that has frayed the nerves of creators, especially those who use social media platforms to share their current affairs-related multimedia content.

Content creators and those in ‘alternate media’ are on tenterhooks, fearing backhanded censorship and action under the aegis of the new legislations that the Bill seeks to introduce.

If enforced, the Bill will regulate YouTubers, social media and OTT platforms – the draft reportedly reclassifies YouTubers, Instagrammers and other digital creators with a user base above a set limit as “digital broadcasters”.

Where Does The Worry Stem From?

The moot trigger point is the re-classification of ‘news broadcasters’. The draft defines ‘professional’ as a “person engaged in an occupation or vocation” — and ‘systematic activity’ as “any structured or organised activity that involves an element of planning, method, continuity or persistence”.

Further, as per the new draft, ‘news and current affairs programmes’ include ‘texts’ apart from the existing “audio, visual or audio-visual content, sign, signals, writing, images” which are “transmitted directly or using a broadcasting network”.

These are the flashpoints that may pivot the entire playing field against them, content creators worry.

“It is novel for the conditions inside the Act (Bill) to be kept so secretive and be given only to a select few players,” Mr Paritosh Joshi, independent media & communications consultant, and former CEO of India TV, said.

Those behind OTT platforms are also worried because other than user-generated content, the Bill aims to regulate OTT platforms as well. The revised draft Bill, however, does not list streaming platforms as a part of the ‘Internet broadcasting services’ segment.

Non-news Content Creators Also Miffed

Even those creators who are into realms distant from hard-core news reportage are peeved, given that their own creed of content, while ostensibly targeted at comedy, mimicry and social awareness, typically picks and branches out from myriad political, religious, cultural and societal happenings of the day in the land.

Many have taken to social media to voice their angst against the outlines of the Bill. YouTube stand-up comedian Azeem Banatwalla wrote on X: “If you’re a comedian, journalist or creator of any kind – and you’re not talking about the #BroadcastBill today – I hope you’ve started practicing your dance moves.

Because if this Bill passes, hum sab ko 'Tauba Tauba reels pe naachna padega' (we will have to dance to Bollywood songs). #KillTheBill #ContentBachao.”

While the outcome of this debate and the future of this Bill are yet to be fully unravelled, the gist of the standoff is that as the Government puts the final touches on a Bill to monitor content on TV, OTTs and social media, the creators of this same content are using that very social media to register their protest with abundant sarcasm.

Soliloquy: Insiders claim the Bill has criminal liability provisions for those media intermediaries that do not provide information “pertaining to OTT Broadcasters and Digital News Broadcasters”. When information is sought about a YouTube, Instagram or X/Twitter user, the platform will have to provide this information.

It is this that has creators worried, that this will hit them in two ways; curb their freedom of speech, and threaten their privacy.