The Indian government on Thursday reiterated in parliament that as per a new advisory all government entities, whether federal or at State level, will have to extract themselves from any activity related to the business of broadcasting.

It also said that if any government body is presently engaged in broadcasting activity, then it would have to be done through public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan and All India Radio.

“As per the…Advisory dated 21.10.2022, the Ministries of Central Government, State/UT Government and entities related to them that are already broadcasting their content shall be required to do it through the Public Broadcaster,” Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur told the Rajya Sabha (Upper House).

Thakur was replying to a query from a fellow parliamentarian who had asked whether the government would disallow government or entities related to it from broadcast business and, more specifically, whether the State Government run TV channels in places like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh will be allowed to continue with a status quo prevailing.

The MIB recently issued an advisory to all Central, State and Union Territory governments, which states that no government or entities related to them shall enter into broadcasting/distribution activities in future and if some are already doing so, then they needed to extract themselves from such businesses and do the broadcasting part via Prasar Bharati.

Thakur explained that the advisory was issued “after examination of constitutional provisions, TRAI’s recommendation, the judgement of the Supreme Court and the legal opinion given by the Ministry of Law and Justice”.

OTT Platforms Not Under Press Council’s Jurisdiction: Replying to another question in Rajya Sabha, Thakur  said that the OTT platforms are governed under the IT Rules, announced last year, and don’t fall under the ambit of the Press Council of India, which predominantly regulates the print media

“The Press Council of India (PCI) has been established as an autonomous body under the Press Council Act, 1978 to maintain and improve the standards of newspaper and news agencies and inculcate principles of self-regulation among the press. OTT platforms are not covered under the Press Council Act,” the Minister said.

Thakur was clarifying on a question that asked the reasons for not including OTT platforms under the jurisdiction of Press Council of India.

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, notified on February 25, mandates publishers of online curated content (OTT platforms) adhere to a Code of Ethics laid down in the regulations.

The Rules also provide for a three-tier grievance redress mechanism to look into complaints relating to violation of the Code of Ethics by the OTT platforms.