The Broadcasting Bill blurs the distinction between journalism and content creation. The definition of news and current affairs has been deliberately left so broad that all sorts of online media can be controlled through it. It clubs together both broadcast and digital media, although broadcast media includes the big channels while digital news media channels are often small outfits run by one or two persons. Many clauses, particularly those relating to self-censorship, are completely impractical given the nature of small news media. Some dangerous clauses include the power to seize electronic devices including studio equipment. There are apprehensions that the Bill could muffle independent voices including those of YouTube journalists, news analysts and digital websites.

In the opinion of these journalist associations, such a bill could wait till the formation of a common body like a Media Commission of India comprising experts and stake holders who could look into all aspects of self-regulation rather than inviting government control. Today there exists a wide spectrum media, ranging from print, broadcast, digital to TV and other media and it is not possible to regulate it through such measures. Instead, it is necessary to organize extensive consultations with all stakeholders, look into the common grievances’ and seek common solutions. Decisions made without democratic consultations could smack of authoritarianism.

The statement states that the NAJ, the APWJF and NWMI also apprehend that the Broadcast Bill is being pushed in a hurry and could be yet another attempt to curb independent thinking, protest and dissent. Therefore the demand is that it should be immediately rolled back. The statement by Sujata Madhok, general secretary, DUJ, AM Jigneesh, DUJ, G Anjaneyulu, Predient, and APWJF and N.Kondaiah, Secretary General, NAL and SK Pande, Presdident, NAJ also notes that the Bill is ominously, inexplicably silent on concentration of media ownership in big corporate hands which is itself a big threat to freedom of expression and diversity of opinion.

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The post Gateway to Censorship: caution and concern over the proposed Broadcasting Bill, 2023 appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, observed on May 3, the National Alliance of Journalists (NAJ) and the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) have expressed shock and anger at increasing attacks on the media in the past year. the journalists’ bodies have demanded that a “comprehensive law be immediately enacted to protect media persons from arbitrary arrests and prosecutions.”

The media bodies led by veteran journalists S K Pande, N. Kondaiah,  G.Anjaneyulu, and Sujata Madhok have also demanded a “Media Council for the entire media to replace the toothless Press Council.” The post of Chairperson of the Press Council has been vacant for almost a year and the media bodies alleged that “the government has not cared to widen the scope of the Council to include all news media today.”

The organisations have also asked for a “Media Commission of India” that also looks into “ethical issues broadly in the lines of the First and Second Press Commissions when the emergent media and new monopolies and interests were less conspicuous.” In perhaps a first, the media bodies also looked inwards and stated that there were many ‘journalists’ who brought infamy to the profession by “acting as drumbeaters for the powers that be.” They put on record how “media barons have colluded in this process, hiring pliant ‘journalists’ whose nightly antics on television have destroyed the credibility of the medium.”  

Attacks on media

The National Alliance of Journalists (NAJ) and the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) stated put on record the multiple challenges faced by media “from open fascism, administrative and police excesses including jailing of journalists, false cases, raids, internet shutdowns, spyware, increasing moves to ‘regulate’ digital social media, trolling, widespread sexism and abuse, besides job losses and the dismantling of labour laws.” Hate speech and fake news are the order of the day, they stated. 

The number of attacks on journalists, on those “who do not toe the line has increased sharply” and Reporters Sans Frontieres’ World Press Freedom Index for 2021 had lowered India’s ranking to 142. “The government continues to imprison journalists under draconian Acts like UAPA. A colonial era Sedition law is still on the statute books and many journalists have been charged with sedition for offenses such as a tweet or Facebook post. During the Covid lockdown media persons braved the pandemic to report from the ground, yet some were arrested for reporting on lapses by public hospitals or corruption in hospital supplies. Recently, journalists were paraded in their underwear in a police station. Others were arrested for exposing an examination scandal and spent three weeks in jail until concerted protests ensured their release on bail,” stated the media bodies.

They also put on record how even as trolling has become a professional hazard, it is often the “minority journalists face some of the worst hate speech. Women journalists are repeatedly targeted with sexist abuse and threats of rape.” The organisations condemned the “inaction on the Sulli Deals episode which led to further targeting of politically active women including leading journalists under the Bulli Deals” and demanded a “swift, deterrent punishment in all such cases.”

India, they said “holds a world record in the number of internet shutdowns” as shown by the digital rights group Access Now’s calculations that the internet was shut down by the authorities “at least 106 times in 2021.”

“Internet shutdowns impede the work of journalists who cannot check the veracity of news and/or send out their stories on time. Meanwhile surveillance of the media is on the rise, with spyware like Pegasus being used for dubious purposes,” they stated, adding that this creates hurdles in the work of a journalist as well. 

Job losses in media

No data is available on the number of journalists who have succumbed to Covid, although a few families have received some compensation. Approximately 3,000 journalists lost their jobs in the lockdown during the first wave of Covid 19, stated the NAJ-DUJ, adding that fast track courts to decide labour matters concerning journalists be set up. “The government has virtually demolished the Working Journalists Acts that provided some protection and mandated a periodic wage board for the profession. We demand a permanent wage fixation machinery for the entire media industry and demand that the  anti-labour codes affecting the entire working classes besides journalists go lock stock and barrel,” they demanded. 

The entire statement may be read here: 

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The National Alliance of Journalists (NAJ) and the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ), have issued a statement demanding that the “ominous” rules proposed to “monitor digital media” be scrapped. The unions, of which many working journalists are members, have stated that the rules come in the wake of “manifold attacks on articles critical of the government and increasing attacks on freedom of the press and  journalistic rights.”

The unions have highlighted that it was within days of the Union Government framing rules to monitor digital media, that Manipur police went to the home of a local journalist who had hosted a discussion on the rules on his Facebook page. It was on Monday, March 1, that Paojel Chaoba, was slapped with a notice from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled state government under the recently notified Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

According to multiple news reports, this was the first official action under the new rules that were announced on February 25. However, the notice was withdrawn a day later. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) had also clarified that the central government alone could enforce the Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. 

However, the NAJ and DUJ, statement signed by office bearers N. Kondaiah, S.K.Pande and Sujata  Madhok, highlights that these rules are “clearly a move to control the digital news media” as well as OTT platforms, and social media companies. It states that the so-called “discomfort among a section of people” on the streaming platforms showing nudity or advocating political positions, is a “pretext for clamping down  on the entire digital spectrum. Earlier, governments at both the centre and the states have used criminal  laws, including sedition and defamation laws, to reign in journalists whose reportage and opinions they  disagree with. The Rules are one more step in this direction.”

The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has delved deep into the recently released Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 and has raised several red flags about privacy and censorship. The code that was announced recently covers social media platforms, digital media including news and even has rules for OTT platforms. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) will oversee the implementation in Social Media, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) will oversee digital media. Ever since the announcement, especially its tone and tenor and usage of words like, “Social media platforms welcome to do business in India but they need to follow the Constitution and laws of India,” there have been widespread concerns primarily pertaining to misuse of the provisions to scuttle dissent and privacy. The IFF’s analysis of exactly how it impacts users and service providers, may be read here.

According to the unions, privacy is a “huge concern, as the Rules mandate that social media platforms must divulge to  government agencies the originator of any post, irrespective of encryption by companies like Signal or  WhatsApp.” Journalists may “no longer be able to protect their sources,” and this will directly affect the media’s access to information. The unions have added that the rules “have been arbitrarily drafted without adequate consultation with stakeholders and “infringe on our Constitutional freedoms, both as citizens and as media persons. We demand that they be immediately withdrawn.”

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IFF analyses new social media Ethics Code and digital media rules
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