The Press and Registration of Periodicals (PRP) Bill 2023

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• About the PRB Act 1867
• Salient Provisions of the PRP Bill 2023
• Significance of the PRP Bill 2023

 

Why in News?

• The Union Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister introduced the Press and Registration of Periodicals (PRP) Bill 2023 in the Rajya Sabha.
• The Bill seeks to replace the existing Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act 1867, which governs the registration of print and publishing industry in the country.

 

About the PRB Act 1867:

• The Act aims to -
  • Regulate printing press and newspapers in India,
  • Preserve copies of books and newspapers printed in India, and
  • Provide for registration of books and newspapers.
• ‘Book’ for the purposes of the Act, includes even a pamphlet and every sheet of music, map, chart etc.
• Interestingly, electronic media is outside the purview of this Act (Sanjay Pinto v. A. Kamaraj, 2011).
• Under the Act, only the district magistrate (DM) could cancel the declaration of a periodical, while the Press Registrar General (PRG) did not have suo motu powers to cancel or suspend the Certificate of Registration granted by it.
• It made improper declaration of information a punishable offence with a prison term of up to six months.

 

Salient Provisions of the PRP Bill 2023:

• The Bill seeks to simplify the registration process for periodicals.
• The Bill will make it mandatory for digital news platforms to do a “one-time registration” in order to operate.
• The Bill empowers the PRG to suspend/cancel registration.
• As per the new Bill, a person who has been convicted by any court for an offence involving terrorist act or unlawful activity or having done anything against the security of the state shall not be permitted to bring out a periodical.
• The Bill also seeks to do away with two provisions that required publishers and printers to file a declaration before the DM.
  • Only an online intimation has to be filed before PRG and DM.
• It waters down the provision (of the PRB Act) for prosecution and imprisonment of publishers for improper declaration of information.
• The punishment of jail up to six months is envisaged only in cases where -
  • A periodical is published without a certificate of registration and
  • The publisher fails to cease the printing of such publication even after six months of a direction issued to that effect by PRG.
• The new Bill also provides for an appellate authority. The Appellate Board (Press and Registration Appellate Board) will comprise chairperson, Press Council of India (PCI), and two members of PCI to hear an appeal against -
  • Refusal of grant of registration,
  • Imposition of any penalty or suspension/cancellation of registration by PRG.

 

Significance of the PRP Bill 2023:

• It aims to bring transparency and ease of doing business by providing for a simple process that will help small and medium publishers.
• It brings digital news media under its purview, which is expected to weed out apps, websites and social media accounts spreading fake news.
  • At present, while traditional print and electronic media are governed by various laws, digital news platforms are not covered by any registration process.
  • To fix this, the government introduced the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, which made it mandatory for digital news platforms to register themselves with the government.
• Books, which were part of the PRB Act, 1867, have been taken out of the purview of PRP Bill, as books as a subject are administered by the Ministry of Education.
• The statute has been substantially decriminalised as against the PRB Act 1867.

 

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Q1) What is the Press Council of India (PCI)?

The PCI is a statutory, adjudicating organisation formed in 1966 (under the Indian Press Council Act, 1965). It is the self-regulatory watchdog of the press, for the press and by the press, that operates under the Press Council Act of 1978.

 

Q2) What is the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021?

The IT (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 has been enacted by the Central Government under the powers conferred to it by the Information Technology (IT) Act, to provide a robust complaint mechanism for social media and OTT platform users to address their grievances.

 

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Source: Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill introduced in RS | ToI