NEW DELHI: In a significant move, the Centre on Monday announced that it will be reviewing certain provisions of the

Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill

, which had sparked concerns among

online content creators

for grouping them with

OTT

or

digital news broadcasters

.

The Bill was initially released for consultations in November last year, and a fresh draft has been shared with select stakeholders for their feedback.

The Centre said a fresh draft of the Bill will be released after detailed consultations, and sought suggestions till October 15.

At a press conference last week, representatives of DigiPub News India Foundation and the Editors Guild of India voiced their concerns regarding the Bill.
They noted that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had held closed-door consultations with selected stakeholders, while broader discussions with digital media organizations and civil society groups had yet to occur.
They expressed their frustration with the process, saying, “We had written to the ministry seeking copies of the draft Bill, but had not received any response.”
The government is expected to take these concerns into account while reviewing the Bill to ensure a more inclusive consultation process.