The new bill will replace the colonial-era Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, which currently regulates the newspaper and printing press industry in India.
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In a first, the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry will soon bring in a new law for the registration of press and media which will include digital media.
According to the ministry sources, if the bill is cleared, digital news sites may face action for violations, which includes cancellation of registration or a penalty.
The government will propose the Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill, 2019, with the changes before the Cabinet soon. The new bill will replace the colonial-era Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867, which currently regulates the newspaper and printing press industry in India.
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Till now, digital media has never been part of any government regulation and has never been defined by any law or any government regulation till now.
However, with the proposal of the Bill, it will regulate digital media for the first time. The I&B ministry has already started the process to amend the Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill and in the new Bill they have devised a plan to include “news on digital media through any electronic device”.
To get the registration, digital publishers will need to register with the Press Registrar General and will have to apply for registration within 90 days of the law coming into effect.
According to the sources, the Bill has yet to get an approval from the Prime Minister’s Office and other stakeholders.
Earlier, in 2019, an attempt was made to regulate digital media under new Information Technology rules but had sparked a huge controversy.
The Centre had put out a draft bill that defined news on digital media as news in digitized format that can be transmitted over the internet, computer or mobile networks and includes text, video, audio and graphics”. Critics saw this as an attempt to control the digital news media.
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