The proposed provisions in the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023 pertaining to self-regulation by broadcasters and broadcasting network operators have elicited diverse views from legal experts.
“It is heartening to see a proposal for a self-regulatory mechanism in the first instance — which appears to be very similar to the original proposal under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. This will accord a greater sense of responsibility accountability for broadcasters and broadcasting networks in relation to the content made available by them to the general public,” Shreya Suri, partner at the law firm IndusLaw, said.
However, Ms. Suri expressed surprise over some of the details given in the Bill itself, which involve intimation to the government, and making public the personal details of members of an internal certification body, the Content Evaluation Committee (CEC), particularly in the backdrop of the new Digital Personal Data Protection legislation, “which would call one to question why this is even necessary”.
