The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has revised a draft of the Broadcast Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, after making changes according to the feedback provided by the industry. This bill, if introduced, will suppress the voice of all the content creators and will be a big slap in the face of Indian citizens and their freedom of speech.
What is a Broadcast Bill?
After the influence of YouTube videos by Dhruv Rathee and Ravish Kumar on the Indian Lok Sabha elections, the Broadcast Bill has been introduced by the Modi government. The Broadcast Bill is a bill that, if passed, will regulate all the news and new-related content like texts, podcasts, and videos, thus suppressing the freedom of speech of Indian citizens. This bill is being slammed as “undemocratic” by Democratic Indian citizens.
Why is the Broadcast Bill Being Hidden?
The revised version of the Broadcast Bill is being withheld by the government and is being only distributed to a limited number of stakeholders. Reportedly, if the bill is passed, YouTubers and Instagrammers beyond a certain number of subscribers and followers would have to register with a three-tier regulatory structure within a month of the bill being passed.
What Will the Content Creators Need to Do?
Apart from registering their existence with the government, the content creators will have to create a content evaluation committee at their own cost to evaluate their content before publishing. The content creators will face criminal charges if they do not provide the government with information about their users. The news content creators in total need to do these things: register with the government, appoint a grievance officer, and create a content evaluation team at their own cost to check the content and keep users’ records. Hashtags like #KillTheBill, #ContentBachao, and #StopTheBroadcastBill are trending on all the social media platforms.
Content Creators Wrath
Dr. Medusa, also known as The Neighbourhood Teacher, is a comedian, satirist, and YouTuber who primarily talks about politics. She condemned the Broadcast Bill.
Apart from Dr. Medusa, the famous YouTuber Dhruv Rathee is also entirely against the broadcast bill.
Famous comedian, Youtuber, and gamer Azeem Banatwalla is known for his political satire. He slammed the bill with his much-known humor.