I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
New Delhi: Facing widespread criticism, the government has withdrawn the new draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, which had sparked concerns over potential government overreach in regulating online content. The draft Bill, which was privately shared with select stakeholders last month, faced pushback from independent content creators and tech companies.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has reportedly asked stakeholders to return their copies of the draft Bill. The ministry is expected to revise the proposal and release a new draft after further consultations.
The draft Bill, which was an expansion of the November 2023 version, aimed to regulate not just OTT platforms and digital news but also social media accounts and online video creators. This move raised alarms about the freedom of speech, particularly among independent creators who would have been categorized as “OTT broadcasters” under the proposed regulations.
The draft also sought to establish a “Code of Ethics” for online content, which had already been challenged in court. The ministry’s statement, however, did not acknowledge the newly withdrawn draft, leading to confusion among stakeholders about the status of their feedback on the earlier version.
