Digital News Portals, Online Films and Content Providers brought under I&B Ministry

The Central Government has issued an order on November 11, 2020. The order bought the digital or online Media, films and audio-visual programmes, news and current affairs content under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Highlights

Currently, there is no law or autonomous body to govern the digital content. So, the development was announced in a gazette notification. The notification declares that the President has given consent to the order to include online films, digital news and current affairs content under the purview of the I&B Ministry which is headed by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Who regulate the contents?

Presently, the Press Council of India looks after the print media, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) regulate the news channels, the Advertising Standards Council of India regulate the advertising while the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) regulate the films.

Background

I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar had stated in 2019, that the Modi government would not take any step to curb the media freedom. But said, that there should be some regulation on over-the-top platforms in the manner there is regulation over the print media, electronic media and films.

Public Interest Litigation (PIL)

The Supreme Court in October 2020 had asked for the Centre’s response on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by an autonomous body to regulate Over the top (OTT) platforms including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The PIL had stated that digital content on these platforms is accessed by the public at large without any screening. So, a  bench led by the Chief Justice SA Bobde had issued notice to the central government, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) and Internet and Mobile Association of India(IAMAI) to make laws on the same.