MUMBAI: After retracting the order which called for guidelines to punish journalists for fake news, the government has upped the ante to regulate online media. Smriti Irani-led Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has constituted a committee of 10 members to discuss and recommend a regulatory framework for online media.

The order which was released on 4 April named the secretaries of the ministries of Home, Electronics and Information Technology, and the departments of Legal Affairs, and Industrial Policy and Promotion as part of the committee. Along with that, it will have representatives from the Press Council of India, News Broadcasters Association and the Indian Broadcasters Federation.

It has been reported earlier also that government was in talks to come up with regulations  for online media. Speaking at an event, Irani said that the ministry was planning to bring about regulations, especially for online news, opinion and entertainment content.

In the terms of references, three reasons have been cited. The first one is to “delineate the sphere of online information dissemination which needs to be brought under regulation, on the lines applicable for print and electronic media”.

The second reason is to “recommend appropriate policy formulation for online media/news portal and online content platforms, including digital broadcasting which encompasses entertainment/infotainment and news/media aggregators, keeping in mind the extant FDI norms, programme and advertising code for TV channels, norms circulated by PCI, code of ethics framed by NBA and norms prescribed by IBF”.

Finally the order said that the committee would analyse the international scenario on such existing regulatory mechanism to incorporate the best practices.

Commenting on the update, news broadcaster NDTV said, "The youngest and most democratic of all media - online media - must be allowed self-regulation: the chance to develop and implement its own guidelines for responsible and fair journalism. The IT Act already applies to online content. The government move that seeks to decide new rules for online media excludes any representatives from online news publishers and reads as exclusionary and coercive. Online publishers are perfectly capable of forming a credible organization, pairing their own leaders with eminent and independent voices, similar to those that represent broadcasters and print media. Allow a real discussion, a genuine debate. That is the fundamental operating principle of the internet."

When a newspaper or a television channel runs news, it has to adhere to the law. There are self-regulatory bodies to set guidelines for traditional media. In the online ecosystem, however, the legislation in terms of news or video content is not very clear.

Since a while, governments all over the globe have been attempting to prevent “fake news”. In India, the move has been criticised by many media professionals and organisations as a step to curb the freedom of media. The authority is looking to restrict news content spread via YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp as the order refers to “digital broadcasting” too.

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