I&B to form committee to regulate online media in India
A day after the government cancelled a controversial 'fake news' circular, the I&B Ministry has decided to constitute a committee to frame guidelines for online media. It noted that television media is regulated by the Programme and Advertisement Codes, while print media is looked after by the Press Council of India, but there's no such body for online media. But industry members are doubtful.
What will the proposed committee do?
The committee will have three key tasks. The first is to identify the sphere of online media that needs to be regulated. Next, it will recommend policies for such regulation considering FDI norms and guidelines of the Press Council of India (PCI), Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and News Broadcasters Association (NBA). Thirdly, it will examine and adopt the best international practices in the matter.
Who will be part of that committee?
The 10-member committee will include secretaries of the I&B Ministry, Home Ministry, MeitY, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Legal Affairs, the MyGov CEO, and representatives of the PCI, IBF and NBA. I&B Minister Smriti Irani had said the challenge was to create a "proactive policy which upholds the right to free speech, but doesn't give anyone the right to instigate a riot."
This is the age of (mostly unverified) online media
As the internet, an uncensored, free-for-all platform, increased its reach, so have fake news. It is easy to upload information on social media, and views-driven news websites often rush to print it without verification. Use of words like "allegedly" is encouraged to escape responsibility. Consequently, people's trust in media has fallen, from 50% in 2001 to half that in 2015, a Gallup poll found.
But are only media houses to blame?
This has affected the audience too, which has changed form from an information-seeking people to drama-hungry masses. They inevitably flock to "sensational" news without caring about accuracy; whatever they read on the internet is "truth." As a result of subtle manipulation, mindsets too are being changed. It sounds even riskier when one realizes the next generations will grow up exclusively on online media.
So will the government's new policy help?
Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express, was apprehensive. "On a first look, I think that there are too many members of government and there isn't any representation from the segment it hopes to regulate." Dhanya Rajendran, Editor, The News Minute, welcomed the moved, but said, "A potential regulation should not take away the freedom people currently have to set up a news website."
