Private consultation: On the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023
The government’s gatekeeping of critical debates hurts trust in policymaking process
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has reportedly been holding closed-door meetings with the broadcasting and entertainment industry regarding the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023, and while a draft was circulated last year, subsequent editions are only being given to a few select stakeholders — under strict terms of confidentiality. Each copy of the newest draft has been provided with a unique watermark that can identify “leaks”, if any. Public consultations are an integral part of making laws that affect many Indians, a fact that was recognised by the government’s 2014 Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy, which recommends extensive public outreach before lawmaking. While the government circulated the earlier version of the Bill to the public, it seems to have insisted on withholding responses, and has chosen to take just a few stakeholders into confidence. This approach ignores online creators, large parts of the media industry, and civil society — the very stakeholders who have the most to be concerned about with media regulation. The Bill would expand an already comprehensive regulatory framework that has been criticised as having a chilling effect, discouraging free expression in a range of media spanning news and entertainment. This has been evident, for instance, in the toning down of OTT streaming platforms’ content since the passage of the IT Rules, 2021.
Cast in that light, the omission of meaningful public consultation — a growing problem in much of policymaking across Ministries — may be less a sin of omission and more a deliberate strategy of gatekeeping major policy changes, and deciding who gets to have a say in them. While the individual laws that are being deliberated in this way may be concerning, the process in and of itself is cause for significant alarm. When it comes to media regulation, for instance, the interests of established corporate stakeholders might not always coincide with those of the emerging crop of creators, independent commentators, social media users and independent journalists who are also likely to be impacted by the Broadcasting Bill. Without a right to know other stakeholders’ points of view — let alone respond to them — the quality and sincerity of this proposal can only be deeply suspect. The government must cease methods of policymaking that may be quick and unfussy, but diminish public trust in their intent. Meaningful public consultation does not constrain the ability of lawmakers to proceed with their intended course of action in any case; all it does is to put diverse points of view across. Hurried and gate-kept consultations may well end up begetting flawed and exclusionary legislation.