The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has put the contentious draft 2023 Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill on hold, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday, The Hindu reported.

Vaishnaw hinted that the ministry will carry out wider consultations with creators and other stakeholders about the bill. “We are open-minded, very flexible and want to make sure that whatever we do, we do after taking all the diverse views into consultation,” the newspaper quoted Vaishnaw as saying.

On August 12, the Union government withdrew the latest draft of the Broadcast Bill amid allegations by several press bodies and civil society organisations that it impinged on free speech online. The government reportedly asked stakeholders to return physical copies that were circulated to them on July 24 and July 25.

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At that time, the ministry had said that it would publish a fresh draft of the bill after holding detailed consultations with stakeholders.

Vaishnaw said on Monday that the draft legislation was being considered to encourage content creators and that the bill’s aims should not be misconstrued.

A new bill will not be drafted if the consultations lead the government to conclude that such a law is not needed, The Hindu also quoted a senior official as saying.

Vaishnaw’s comments came after a report earlier on Monday quoted unidentified officials as saying that the ministry would not come up with a fresh draft as there was no need for such a law.

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The draft was withdrawn after it was felt that regulations were already in place and a new law was not required, the Financial Express quoted officials as saying. Any problems that arise can be addressed through the Digital India Act that the government is working on, according to the report.

While the 2023 version of the draft legislation has an October 15 deadline for public comments, more consultations will be carried out and the bill will not be introduced in Parliament this year, the newspaper quoted an unidentified senior official as saying.

While withdrawing the bill on August 12, the government’s statement had only mentioned the first draft of the bill that was made public on November 10, 2023, and did not refer to the latest draft that was reportedly shared with select stakeholders in July.

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The Centre had not released the latest draft of the bill publicly, which had led journalists and activists to call for wider consultations.

The contentious bill

The draft Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill seeks to create a consolidated legal framework for the broadcasting sector. The proposed legislation is slated to replace the nearly three-decade-old Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, 1995, and bring under its ambit over-the-top media providers and digital news platforms.

Opposition leaders, media collectives and digital rights associations, however, said that the bill could enable the government to censor free speech on over-the-top platforms and social media, and could lead to the erosion of the independence of digital media.

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The proposed law was to cover online streaming services, social media accounts and online video creators, according to the reports.

The draft proposed that online creators would need to conform with a three-tier mechanism put in place by the Information Technology Rules. Broadcasters would need to appoint grievance officers, set up Content Evaluation Committees and would need to comply with a Programme Code and an Advertising Code.

Among the most contentious provisions was one that said online influencers could be classified as broadcasters if they spoke about matters involving current affairs.

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Activists alleged that these provisions would impose compliance requirements that would make it impossible for content creators to function without the permission of the government. They contended that the draft bill was part of a multi-layered legal system that sought to censor content.

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