UGC on social media may be brought under purview of Broadcast Services Bill

In November 2023, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) proposed a draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023. The draft Bill provides for a consolidated framework to regulate the broadcasting services in the country and seeks to replace the existing Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and other Policy Guidelines currently governing the broadcasting sector in the country.

The Bill streamlines regulatory processes, extends its purview to cover the Over-the-Top (OTT) content and digital news, and introduces contemporary definitions and provisions for emerging technologies.  It seeks to provide for Content Evaluation Committees and a Broadcast Advisory Council for self-regulation, different program and advertisement code for different Broadcasting Network Operators, Accessibility measures for persons with disabilities, and statutory penalties, etc.

As per industry sources, now the Government is mulling the inclusion of User Generated Content (UGC) on social media platforms generated by professional creators under the purview of the draft Broadcasting Services Bill.

Currently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) regulates content on social media platforms under the existing IT Rules. When the proposed Broadcasting Services Bill is passed, social media content generated by professional creators will be regulated by both the MIB and MeitY.

As of now, there isn’t much clarity on who would be considered “professional creators”, nor what the role and responsibilities of platforms like Google and Meta would be. The proposal will impact millions of creators as they will be required to be registered under the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Act.