The Congress on Friday alleged that the Broadcasting Companies (Regulation) Invoice was a “direct menace” to freedom of speech and the impartial media and claimed that the invoice would result in extreme on-line surveillance. The Media and Publicity division head of Congress, Pawan Khera, took to X, urging individuals to boost their voice towards the invoice that he dubbed as “authorities’s tyranny.”
Folks on social media have additionally been voicing their concern concerning sure provisions within the invoice. In the meantime, the federal government acknowledged that the invoice was nonetheless within the drafting stage and the stakeholders’ session was additionally underway.
In a put up on X, Khera alleged that the proposed legislation is a “direct menace to our freedom of speech and impartial media” and wrote down numerous causes as to why individuals should oppose it.
“Elevated authorities management over content material creators, from social media influencers to impartial information shops, threatens the independence of the press and restricts free speech,” he mentioned.
He additionally claimed that the invoice “labelled anybody importing movies, making podcasts or writing about present affairs as ‘digital information broadcasters”.
“This will unnecessarily regulate people and small groups offering impartial information protection,” the Congress chief mentioned.
“Requiring on-line creators to ascertain content material analysis committees provides pre-publication censorship. This can delay well timed information and create a chilling impact on free expression,” Khera added.
He additional went on to claime that the invoice “imposes heavy regulatory burdens on small content material creators, treating them like giant media companies,” including that “many impartial journalists lack sources to conform, resulting in potential shutdowns.”
Khera mentioned content material creators who monetised their platforms would face the identical stringent rules as conventional broadcasters.
“This discourages new entrants and harms the financial viability of impartial creators and that is precisely how the federal government completed the crypto market in India,” he claimed.
The Congress chief additionally alleged that the method of drafting the invoice “didn’t embody civil society, journalists and key stakeholders, elevating issues about transparency and inclusivity.”
Stressing that the invoice will pave the way in which for extreme surveillance on-line, he mentioned: “Monitoring detrimental influencers and legal legal responsibility for non-compliance threatens dissenting voices and impartial journalism.”
Union Minister of State for Data and Broadcasting L Murugan, wrote a reply to a query within the Rajya Sabha on Friday, which learn: “The draft Broadcasting Companies (Regulation) Invoice, in search of to interchange the prevailing Cable Tv Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, and tips regulating the broadcasting sector was positioned in public area for feedback of stakeholders, together with area consultants and most people, on 10.11.2023.”
He additionally mentioned that the session of the stakeholders is at present underway and that the invoice remains to be on the drafting stage.