All Set! Bill To Regulate Digital Media

We are in the digital era and this medium is experiencing vast changes and in India, its impact is huge. Primarily news is being produced at rapid speed just to reach out to more and more people. Simultaneously the digital media has its cons as well. Fake news has been rampant and it has led to devastating consequences.

To impose restrictions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government of India is set to replace the 155-year-old law that governs the functioning of newspapers and printing presses in the country. The British-era Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 will be replaced by a new Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill.

This bill will bring digital news media under the control of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B). Previously in 2019, the GoI had circulated a draft Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill and it proposed registration of the digital media news publishers with the Registrar of Newspapers of India.

The Bill enables the GoI and the state governments to frame appropriate regulations to regulate the conditions for issuing Government sponsored advertisements in newspapers, accreditation of newspapers and other facilities for newspapers.

According to this bill, once it gets Parliament approval, the digital media houses will have to register with the Press Registrar General within 90 days. The bill suggests that if digital publications are found violating the norms, they can be suspended or cancel registrations and impose heavy penalties.

The new bill on digital media will certainly wipe out unauthorised media outlets and will also impact video streaming ones especially those operating through YouTube.