Regulation Of Digital Media: Bill In The Making

Introduction

Urban India has witnessed replacement of newspapers and magazines with e-newspapers and e-magazines. Mobile apps and websites are the new source of news on digital platforms. Major news and broadcast companies have ventured into the digital media and news sector to benefit from this new age medium. The pandemic also fuelled the adoption rate of digital in India coupled with the high consumption of digital video. As of now, digital media is not regulated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), however, voluntary registration could be undertaken with the MIB.

In an attempt to regulate digital media, on November 25^th 2019, the MIB had introduced the draft Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill, 2019 (hereinafter referred to as the "RPP Bill 2019") for comments from the public. The RPP Bill 2019 was meant to replace the archaic Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act, 1867 which has been in place since the British Era. However, the