News influencers to be called 'digital news broadcasters', proposes new draft of Broadcasting Bill
The Ministry of I&B has requested feedback and comments by July 31 on the latest version of the Bill.
According to the new draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill that the government shared with stakeholders, social media influencers, creators, or podcasters who upload content specific to the news genre and current affairs could be classified as 'Digital news broadcasters'.
As reported earlier, on July 9, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) added new provisions to the Bill. One of which said that the OTT and digital news broadcasters have been exempted from criminal penalties for failure to notify the government upon surpassing the statutory threshold. Additionally, the definition of OTT broadcasting service has also been revised, which now includes social media creators.
The Bill was first released for public consultation in November 2023 and aims to unify all broadcaster regulations into a single law. However, broadcasters and streaming services have been raising various concerns in meetings with the Ministry.
The Ministry has also requested feedback and comments by July 31 on the latest version of the Bill. Concerns have also been raised around the purview of the music streaming services, and AI-generated content.
In its recent meeting with the streaming service providers and broadcasters on July 9, MIB discussed the Bill's purview concerning social media news content and other concerns raised by the stakeholders in the past.
The Ministry shared with the stakeholders that it has added a new provision that grants the central government power to direct any internet service provider or social media company to take appropriate action for implementation of the Bill. Additionally, the Ministry is reviewing the existing program and advertising codes, as there is a suggestion to have different program and advertising codes for both linear broadcasters and on-demand broadcasting.
The latest version is the second draft of the Bill is said to replace the Cable Television Networks Act, 1995.
The last meeting saw representations from broadcasters including Netflix and Hotstar, streaming platforms like Spotify, social media companies with the likes of Google and Meta, and industry associations including FICCI, NBA, and IAMAI.
