-The Hindu Says think tank has not even got country’s map correct Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lashed out at the U.S. think tank Freedom House — which has downgraded India’s status from “free” to “partly free” — accusing the body of not even getting the “Indian map” correct. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on behalf of the government also issued a statement calling the report “misleading, incorrect and misplaced”. Speaking to reporters at...

-Hindustan Times Reacting to the controversy, I&B minister Prakash Javadekar told Hindustan Times, "The mechanism is mostly self-regulatory and only in very serious cases can they complain to the ministry." Javadekar further said the rules were “very clear that a DM does not have the power to issue such a notice”. The Manipur government on Tuesday evening cancelled the notice issued to a talk show on current affairs under the new digital...

-The Hindu It has been exercised for the past 11 years, clarifies I&B Ministry The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday clarified that no “new provision” had been added to the existing law, after uproar over a provision of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, under which the Secretary of the Ministry can block public access to any information in case of emergency. “Certain misgivings...

-The Hindu Bringing digital media under the I&B Ministry nips in the bud the promise of combative journalism The government’s move bringing online news and current affairs portals along with “films and audio-visual programmes made available by online content providers” under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is as brazen as it is wily. Brazen, because this is an attack on the free press, targeted at a section that has been bold and...

-NDTV.com New Delhi: The government has issued an order bringing online news portals and content providers such as Netflix under the Information and Broadcasting ministry. At present, there is no law or autonomous body governing digital content. The Press Council of India takes care of the print media, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) monitors news channels, the Advertising Standards Council of India is for advertising while the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)...