“Today, on one side by the use of power, the entire media has been turned into a government mouthpiece, and on the other hand, the BJP government is preparing to gag digital media, social media, OTT platforms and even those who write and speak in private capacity by bringing the broadcast bill,” she said.”This is completely unacceptable.The country will not tolerate such actions,” she asserted.The Congress on Friday had alleged that the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill was a direct threat to freedom of speech and the independent media and claimed that it would pave the way for “excessive surveillance” online.Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera had urged people to raise their voice against what he termed as “government’s tyranny”.While several people on social media have also been voicing their concern about certain reported provisions in the proposed law, the government has said the bill was still in the drafting stage and the stakeholders’ consultation was underway.In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan said, “The draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, seeking to replace the existing Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, and guidelines regulating the broadcasting sector was placed in public domain for comments of stakeholders, including domain experts and the general public, on 10.11.2023.””The stakeholders’ consultation is currently underway. The bill is still at the drafting stage,” he had said.
Source link
