New Bill to bring news websites under purview of Indian media laws

The Centre is drafting a new law for the registration of media, under which digital news websites will be included for the first time in the history of press laws in the country.

So far, the digital media industry had not been under the purview of any government legislation.

The new law will replace the Registration of Books Act, 1867, a law dating back to the pre-Independence era, which was regulating the newspaper and printing industry in India.

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Once the draft legislation – Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill, 2019 –  is passed, it would bring digital news websites on par with newspapers.

Under the new law, digital news websites will be required to register themselves with the Press Registrar General within 90 days – a requirement which is not mandatory under current laws.

“Violations” under the law may lead to cancellation of registration or imposition of penalty on digital news platforms.

The Press Registrar General, equivalent to the current Registrar of Newspapers would hold absolute authority to penalise media houses as well as suspend and cancel their registrations.

The draft Bill, when passed, will bring the digital news media under the direct purview of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The draft Bill, initially put out by the Centre in 2019 defined news on digital media as “news in digitised format that can be transmitted over the internet, computer or mobile networks and includes text, audio, video and graphics.”

It, however, received widespread criticism with many calling it an attempt to control digital media.

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While the Centre didn’t go ahead with the Bill at that time, it has now finalised the draft after consulting with respective stakeholders. The Bill will be tabled in the Parliament after the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approves it.