Stop digital dictatorship with all your might

TRAI in its policy document said that the broadcasting sector is the cultural ambassador of the country and has given a unique identity to India. Great! But yet, the government plans to tighten its grip and literally throttle the digital media. The first draft covered the OTT platforms, and the latest one aims to take care of the digital media such as the YouTubers, influencers and even those who analyse news via text messages

Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the Emergency. The #DarkDaysOfEmergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India which every Indian respects greatly.

Thus tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25 this year to damn the Congress for imposing the infamous Emergency. It might have been his and BJP’s strategy to deflect attention from INDIA bloc which scored decisive victories in the last Lok Sabha elections. But it was music to those who propound freedom of expression and the Press.

The Congress was quick to hit back saying that those who bring about the Emergency type situation daily, that too by the backdoor, have no business to talk about the dark days of June1975. Democracy has been under threat as it is today.

While a majority of the electronic media has turned out to be Godi Media, toeing the government and BJP line and hardly raising any questions that they ought to ask, the rest of the journalistic community has been under pressure directly or indirectly. There is a handful of section called the independent media that has been upholding the freedom of the Press and raising relevant questions which of course are never answered. Some of the journalists who dared to report failures of the government and raise questions have been gagged or jailed. In fact, we began this column by asking the Prime Minister as to when he would address his first press conference and answer all questions from the national media.

Amid all this, now comes highly disturbing news about the Broadcasting Amendment Bill, in two draft versions, which directly impacts the independent media professionals and analysts operating through the web or YouTube.

The Modi government said announcing the National Broadcasting Policy, 2024 that it aims to define a robust future for the broadcasting sector. It envisions a vibrant industry that promotes India's cultural diversity and supports its transition to a digital economy. So far so good.

What is more, TRAI in its policy document said that the broadcasting sector is the cultural ambassador of the country and has given a unique identity to India. Great! But yet, the government plans to tighten its grip and literally throttle the digital media. The first draft covered the OTT platforms, and the latest one aims to take care of the digital media such as the YouTubers, influencers and even those who analyse news via text messages.

While the first draft was put out for public participation, the second one has been circulated among a select group of stake holders, almost secretly on watermarked papers. This led to a storm in BJP’s teacup (pun unintended).

The Congress, which in its Lok Sabha poll manifesto vowed to trash the draft broadcasting bill, has vehemently opposed the secret draft. The Bill is a direct threat to our freedom of speech and independent media, said Congress media cell head Pawan Khera and said we must raise our voice against the government's tyranny.

Increased government control over content creators, from social media influencers to independent news outlets, threatens the independence of the Press and restricts free speech; The bill labels anyone uploading videos, making podcasts, or writing about current affairs as 'digital news broadcasters.' This could unnecessarily regulate individuals and small teams providing independent news coverage.

While the Congress, in its manifesto, also vowed to restore freedom of speech and express including the full freedom of the media, the BJP’s Modi Ki Guarantee 2014 was surprisingly (and understandably?) silent on media freedom. And the ruling dispensation has the audacity to talk about 50-year-old Emergency and trampling of freedom of expression.

With the secret broadcasting draft bill, the content creators will have to intimate their presence to the government (which means they will have to register) and appoint their own content evaluation committees to screen before uploading anything. Will this not add financial burden on the small, independent content creators? So much for the government which talks of creating self-employment. Examine this from the TRAI document: “Content creation and dissemination through films, music and content creation for online gaming have also witnessed huge growth and hold immense potential to generate employment opportunities, promote Indian culture and contribute to the growth of the Indian economy. Content creators who monetize their platforms face the same stringent regulations as traditional broadcasters, Khera said.

Some YouTubers expressed the fear that the Bill will bring back the much-hated license raj that was given a go-by with the rolling down of the liberalisation process during the Narsimha Rao-Manmohan Singh era.

TRAI claims one of the key ideas behind the policy is to unleash the scope and reach of the broadcasting sector for it to become a torch bearer of ‘Create in India’ and ‘Brand India’ programmes of the government.”

Brand India? India ranks 159/180 in the global Freedom of Press index and by suppressing the remnants of freedom, we will further damage Brand India image globally. There has already been a massive backlash of the way the BJP government treats freedom of speech and suppresses the opposition through its caged parrots.

One may ask as to why should we bother about this Bill and how does it impact us? Remember, some of these channels and portals are keeping the torch of freedom of the Press from getting extinguished. While most of the media maintained a stoic silence, it was the digital media that exposed the quid pro quo in the electoral bond scam and the gulf between the voted and counted votes apart from bringing to light the lies of the BJP propaganda. It was the non-Godi media and the digital journalism that helped checkmate the attempt to murder democracy in the Chandigarh mayoral poll. To put in one sentence, if the Godi media and the government have their way, it will pave the way for the end of two-way communication traffic and thus your right to know facts.

The Editors’ Guild has already pointed out that the Bill seeks to create an overarching censorship framework.

Knowing the style of functioning of the BJP, it will try to bulldoze its way with this Bill as well as it did in December 2023.

Now, the Congress and INDIA bloc will have to be on an extra alert and not get trapped in provocations and aggressive behaviour from treasury benches in Parliament. An encore of the opposition MPs suspension will sound death knell for democracy or whatever little of it remains. Anurag Thakur and Kangana Ranaut have already given enough indications of their tongue lashing which has the potential of further degenerating the political discourse. Rahul Gandhi has to maintain his cool and ensure the Congress MPs do not jump into the well of the House.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)