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| Content code violation: Govt begins crackdown | |
| Ashish Sinha / New Delhi June 24, 2009, 1:04 IST | |
With new minister at the helm, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) is now coming down heavily on broadcasters for content code violations. It has issued at least six warnings and advisories to various broadcasters for content code violations in this month alone, the highest in recent times. The I&B ministry had not sent such notices, warnings and advisories to the broadcasters since March 2 due to enforcement of the model code of conduct by the Election Commission.
Most cases of content code violation are for shows or news items that have appeared on television in the past 8-10 months.
“Since the beginning of the year, only one or two advisories, warnings or show-cause notices were being sent by the ministry to various broadcasters. This month, at least six advisories, warnings or show-cause notices have been issued to the broadcasters,” said a sources in the I&B ministry.
According to a senior I&B official, channels including India TV, Colors, Asianet, Indiavision and News24 have been sent warnings and advisories in June for alleged violation of programme code under the provisions of Section 20 of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.
On Tuesday, the ministry issued a warning to news channel India TV in a case of telecast of a news item on Sant Asaramji Bapu in August 2008. The I&B ministry has advised the channel to ensure strict compliance with content code or face stringent action, including prohibition of broadcast, said a senior official in the ministry. Earlier this month, the I&B ministry had issued advisories to entertainment channel Colors raising objections to the promos of a serial among others.
In case of show-cause notices, the broadcaster concerned will have to give an explanation to the I&B ministry. However, in case of warnings, the broadcaster concerned will be required to carry clarifications on its channel and may be asked to give an assurance that it will be careful in the future.
Once the I&B ministry receives a complaint against broadcasters for content code violations, it refers the matter to an inter-ministerial committee (IMC) that previews the recordings of the alleged violations. If found guilty, the IMC advises the I&B ministry to take appropriate action against the said broadcasters.
According to the ministry records for the last five years, around 274 notices and advisories have been issued to various broadcasters, while there have been around 115 warnings to television channels. Most of the cases have been closed after the broadcaster accepted the responsibility and took appropriate actions according to the rules. Two years back, the I&B ministry had blocked the downlinking of English channels AXN and Fashion TV briefly for content code violations, while it has also cancelled the downlinking licence of several foreign channels for gross violations.
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