The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will bring OTT and user-generated content under the Broadcasting Services Regulation (BSR) Bill despite objections from social media companies, civil society and streaming companies. However, to assuage concerns of a spooked industry, the Ministry assured that it will take a differential approach to regulating linear and on-demand broadcasting services.

The Ministry is likely to share a draft bill with stakeholders in the next few weeks, but providing a teaser on the likely contents of the Bill in a meeting on Tuesday, the Ministry clarified that the new draft bill will recognise the inherent differences between linear and on-demand broadcasting services. 

Regulation Shift

The Ministry clarified that the power to regulate digital broadcast will be vested from the IT Ministry to the MIB. The broadcasting ministry clarified to the stakeholders, “All provisions currently governing broadcasting services shall be subsumed in the draft BSR bill and there shall be no simultaneous application of laws,” as per a document seen by businessline.

Currently, news on any digital media platform, social media platforms (like Meta, and Google), and curated content on streaming platforms (like Netflix and Amazon Prime) is governed under Part II and III of the IT rules. According to the I&B Ministry, the authority to regulate this “digital broadcasting,” under the IT rules will be subsumed under the new broadcasting bill. 

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s foremost right to regulate the broadcasting sector will also end in the new draft bill since the broadcasting Ministry clarified, “that no entity will be deemed as a licensee under the TRAI Act unless notified by the MIB.”

Broadcast Regulations

The clear intent to regulate digital content and digital news in particular, after the 2024 elections has raised concerns about stifling free speech and content creation on the internet. During the stakeholder meetings, the MIB described its regulations for OTT firms and digital news platforms as “feather light touch regulations” indicating that OTT and news services over a certain threshold of subscribers will only have to give an intimation to the Ministry. After which the regulatory framework to which they will be subjected to will be minimal. 

At the same time, MIB added that over a certain threshold, streaming firms and digital news platforms will be subject to the same forms of self-censorship standards that broadcasters must adhere to. Which are an internal Content Evaluation Committee at the individual platform level; and at the ministerial level a Broadcasting Advisory Council. 

The threshold over which digital news platforms, streaming firms and content creators will be subject to the BSR bill appears to be 10 lakh subscribers. The industry noted that a subscriber threshold of 10 lakh subscribers is not necessarily very high, and even small digital news platforms run by a single person or a very small team will be able to meet this threshold. A small team would find it difficult to meet the content regulation standards, especially self-regulation standards met by the BSR Bill. In response, the ministry stated simply that the stakeholder suggestions have been duly noted and will be taken into consideration during the rule-framing process. 

A stakeholder taking part in discussions stated that it is fallacious for the Ministry to characterise its regulations for digital platforms as “feather light touch regulations.” “It is clear that digital platforms and creators are set to be subject to a slew of new regulations,” they said.

Overall the industry has raised 14 objections to the draft BSR Bill. The only concessions given by the ministry include making OTT broadcasters exempt from carrying mandatory channels. The ministry has also promised the stakeholders that the Programme and Advertising Code for digital broadcasters will be different from that of linear broadcasters but not provided specifics.