Information And Broadcasting Ministry

Social media's role must be assessed from lens of trust: Vaishnaw

The role of social media must be clearly evaluated from the lens of its impact on societal harmony and trust, that has been built and cemented over thousands of years, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said adding the latest Economic Survey has "rightly pointed out" issues around the online platforms. Noting that social media is now among the most important modes of information and outreach, the minister said while it offers benefits such as learning, its broader impact must be clearly assessed to ensure they add value to society, their content is trustworthy and the platforms do their due diligence. "We must make sure that our society remains a harmonious society and we should see the role of social media from that point of view. Is social media able to add to that trust or is it disrupting society? Is it adding value or is it creating friction in the society? That thing has to be very clearly evaluated," Vaishnaw said in a recent interview to PTI. He said social media has emerged a

Age limits for social media under review, govt to take a call: IT secy

The Economic Survey has made several suggestions on age-based access to online platforms, and the government will examine all the opinions and take a call on the issue, IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Thursday. Last week, the Economic Survey had said age-based access to online platforms should be considered while also cutting down online teaching to avoid digital addiction. The Survey, tabled in Parliament, had said online platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification, and simpler devices should be promoted for children to access educational content with safeguards to address the rising problem of digital addiction. It is pertinent to mention that the Ghaziabad triple suicide, where three minor sisters allegedly jumped to their deaths from a ninth-floor flat, has triggered an alarm over online gaming addiction and the Korean culture craze. "You have seen what the Economic Survey has to say. A number of views are being expressed. We will examine all the views a

Govt ready to support radio sector expansion: Union Minister L Murugan

Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan on Saturday said the government was ready to support further expansion of the country's radio ecosystem. Speaking at the Broadcast Engineering Society Expo, he said the government was encouraging expansion of FM radio even in Tier-3 cities. "We have 839 FM stations in 313 cities. Community radio stations too are growing fast. We have 532 community radio stations. The government is ready to support the radio sector by granting licences," Murugan said. India's FM radio ecosystem may be heading towards its biggest transformation in decades, with private FM broadcasters and consumer device manufacturers signalling readiness to transition from analog to Digital FM using HD Radio. Discussions at the expo indicated strong industry alignment, with broadcasters backing HD Radio as a scalable and proven technology and device manufacturers prepared to integrate digital radio receivers across smartphones, feature phones, Blueto

Govt aims to double concert economy, simplify event permissions in India

The I&B Ministry will launch a single-window platform to ease concert permissions as India attracts major global artists and sees record live event growth

Centre proposes changes to TV rating guidelines, removes conflict clauses

Revised framework for TV rating guidelines deletes cross-holding, updates Companies Act rules

Centre asks OTT platforms to stop streaming content from Pakistan

The I&B Ministry has directed OTTs and digital media platforms to immediately stop streaming Pakistan-origin content under the IT Rules citing security concerns

Govt directs OTT platforms to halt streaming of Pak-origin content

The government on Thursday advised OTT platforms to discontinue streaming of Pakistan-origin content, including web-series, films and podcasts, with immediate effect. The advisory by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting comes in the wake of strikes by Indian armed forces on terror sites in Pakistan to avenge the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22. "In the interest of national security, all OTT platforms, media streaming platforms and intermediaries operating in India are advised to discontinue the web-series, films, songs, podcasts and other streaming media content, whether made available on a subscription based model or otherwise, having its origins in Pakistan with immediate effect," the advisory issued by the ministry said.

FTII Pune, SRFTI granted university status, says Education ministry

Renowned film making schools-- Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata-- have been granted deemed-to-be university status, according to Ministry of Education. The new status will empower them to award degrees rather than just diplomas and also offer doctoral programmes. "FTII Pune and SRFTI Kolkata, have been granted deemed-to-be university status under section 3 of the UGC Act. The status has been notified following recommendation made by the University Grants Commission," a senior MoE official said. "Both institutes will launch doctoral, research and innovative academic programmes. They will also participate in NIRF Rankings and integrate with Academic Bank of Credits (ABC). Aligned with vision of National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, this landmark decision will pave way for greater autonomy, innovation and academic excellence in film and media education," the official added. FTII was set up by the ...

WAVES big opportunity for media, TV channels, OTTs and filmmakers: Murugan

Union Minister L Murugan has said the World Audiovisual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) is a big opportunity for creators. The Union Minister of State Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs on Monday said the summit, being held in Mumbai from May 1 to 4, will have programmes like WAVES Bazaar and CEO Round Table. "Under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, WAVES is a big opportunity for creators working in the field of creator economy. It is a big event for print media, satellite TV channels, digital media, OTT platforms and filmmakers. Players associated with the media and entertainment sector will come together in this conference and celebrate creativity for four days," he said. "Leading production companies from India and abroad are participating in the WAVES Summit. Through WAVES, the whole world will get to see a glimpse of Indian technology and content creation," he added. Murugan also met the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and discussed .

India's media ecosystem doesn't require foreign validation: MoS L Murugan

India has a vibrant press and media ecosystem which does not need validation from foreign organisations, the government told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan said this in a written response to a question from Congress MP K Sudhakaran, who asked about "India's decline in the Global Press Freedom Index ranking in 2024". "India has a vibrant press and media ecosystem, which does not need validation from foreign organisations," he said. In its report published last year, global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked India 159th out of 180 countries based on journalists' ability to work and report freely and independently. India was ranked below Turkey, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which stood at 158th, 152nd, and 150th positions, respectively. RSF has consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the International Organisation of the Francophonie. Asked about steps taken by the governme

Telcos support Parl panel recommendation of merging IT & Telecom ministries

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology made the suggestion to merge the three allied ministries in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha last week

Why has CBFC blocked UK's Oscar entry Santosh from release in India?

Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has refused certification for theatrical release to Santosh by Sandhya Suri over concerns regarding the film's portrayal of the Indian police

India's Got Latent row: Centre asks OTT, social media to follow regulations

In its latest notice, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has acknowledged the alleged dissemination of obscene, pornographic, and vulgar content on OTT platforms and social media

Allahbadia's comments: House panel asks govt to suggest amendments in laws

A parliamentary panel Thursday asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to submit a note by February 17 on the amendments needed in existing laws to clamp down on controversial content like the one involving Ranveer Allahbadia amid bipartisan concern from MPs over the issue. At the meeting of the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, members from different parties voiced concern over Allahbadia's crass comments at a YouTube programme and called for stringent measures to punish him and to ensure that such an incident does not recur. Sources said the committee's chairperson and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey shared their concerns at the meeting attended by Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju and other senior ministry officials. The committee later dispatched a communication to Jaju under the subject "review of implementation of laws related to all forms of media", sources said. The letter said, "With the examination of the subject "Review of .

India to host first 'WAVES summit' in Mumbai from May 1-4: Ashwini Vaishnaw

India will host the first World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai from May 1-4 that will bring together too media CEOs, entertainment icons and creative minds from around the globe. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the dates of WAVES through a post on X, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Advisory Board for the summit. "This summit will bring together the world's top media CEOs, biggest entertainment icons, and creative minds from around the globe, unifying entertainment, creativity, and culture like never before," Vaishnaw said. "India is laying the foundation for becoming the creative powerhouse of the world," he said. On Friday evening, Modi interacted with eminent personalities from various fields that included Amitabh Bachchan and Mukesh Ambani regarding the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES). Those who participated in the interaction include Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Amitabh

Answering queries on welfare schemes is bulk of govt fact-check unit's work

Queries on government jobs or recruitment examinations also on the minds of people

MIB tells parliamentary panel it's working on rules to regulate online ads

Member of Parliament Nishikant Dubey who is chairing the committee had requested the ministry to give updates on the status of rules

Govt hikes crop insurance scheme allocation, subsidy for DAP fertiliser

Also, Rs 824.77 crore fund has been created to foster innovation and technology in the agriculture sector

Work on to assess AI, job loss from GenAI not intense in India: IT secy

He said under the IndiaAI mission, the government has tried to make a subtle distinction between responsible AI as defined by the West -- which is not expected to be regulated by the government -- and

Every mobile user can broadcast: MoS Murugan cautions on quality of content

Every mobile user is a content creator and broadcaster and has the moral responsibility to ensure the veracity of the information shared by them, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan said here on Thursday. Addressing a symposium on the 'Emerging Trends and Technologies in Broadcasting Sector' on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress, Murugan said content was the "hero" of the emerging broadcast revolution and anybody providing good quality content would be successful. He said the government has recently approved establishing Indian Institute of Creative Technologies in Mumbai to promote the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) sector and encourage film-makers to 'shoot in India', utilising the talent pool and locations across the country. Murugan said that when a person publishes news or information, it is incumbent on him to authenticate it, verify it and ensure that it is correct. "We have the social responsibility,