Why online content creators are protesting against the new broadcasting bill

Your favourite YouTubers and Instagram creators who comment on politics and news will now have to register with the information broadcasting ministry and work at its discretion. This is the TLDR – too long, didn’t read – of the latest version of the proposed Broadcasting Regulation Bill, 2024.

Experts have pointed out that the proposed changes to the broadcasting law aim to impose a “licence raj” to muzzle digital content creators. The intent is not lost on the content creators, who told Scroll that the government sees them as a threat.

“They have tamed the mainstream media, now they want to come after YouTube and Instagram because the government knows that content on the internet hurt its prospects during the Lok Sabha elections,” said journalist Abhisar Sharma, whose YouTube channel has close to 70 lakh subscribers.

Sharma’s contention is not based on the broadcasting bill alone. Even before the changes to the bill were proposed, political analysts noted that content by social media influencers “offered a space for political engagement of an increasingly reticent voter, silenced due to the prevailing environment of fear”.

The impact of the broadcasting bill, however, would not be limited to electoral politics, content creators point out. Dr Medusa, a political satirist with more than a lakh followers on Instagram and YouTube, does not go by her real name online – for a reason.

“If my identity is revealed, anybody could turn up at my doorstep,” she said. She is apprehensive that the bill will compromise her privacy and safety. “I will have to give my name, address and phone number to register myself,” she said. “The rape and death threats I receive online could very well be a reality.”

Dr Medusa also said that the bill was aimed at “homogenising the democratic space of the internet”.

Citing her own example, she said that online platforms allow content creation with limited resources. “I use a phone camera, I edit my own videos and one of the walls of my room is painted green which acts as my green screen,” she said. “By putting us on the same pedestal as news channels, the government wants to rob us of the chance to offer a discourse that is an alternative to the filth that is peddled on prime time TV every day.”

Content creators believe that the reason the bill casts a wide net is not because the government wants to regulate the internet, rather it wants to control it. Vimoh, who has nearly three lakh followers on Instagram where he posts reels related to politics and scientific temper, said: “The bigger problem is not what kind of content they are going to go after, right now the concern is what kind of content they are going to forgive.”

It is evident that the Narendra Modi government is not opposed to online content creators per se. In fact, it wants to leverage their influence. Just weeks before the Lok Sabha elections, the prime minister awarded 23 content creators at the first ever National Creators Award. Highlighting the importance of recognising online creators, Modi said at the event: “I can sense time ahead of time”. Significantly, however, the awards were given to content creators who toed the ruling party’s ideological line.

This has led to concerns about the government picking and choosing the type of content it wants to reward or target. “You will not see Beer Biceps speaking against the bill,” Dr Medusa said, referring to a popular podcaster who was given the “Best Disruptor” award by Modi.

An official version of the draft bill is still not in the public domain. According to media reports, it has been shared with a few industry stakeholders in a watermarked format to prevent leakage of details. “Who are these stakeholders that the government is consulting with?” Dr Medusa questioned. “I am a stakeholder too and I have no way of knowing what the bill entails.”

The secrecy around the bill itself shows that there is reason to be concerned about its intent, said Balram Vishwakarma, who has close to 1.5 lakh followers on Instagram. Vishwakarma is concerned that he might have to change the very name of his account called “Andheri West Shitposting”, where he posts humorous videos to highlight civic issues in Mumbai. “I think they will have a problem with the word ‘shit’”, he said. “I often make reels about problems that local train commuters face. Now, if one of the commuters uses a cuss word to express his frustration, should I be penalised for that?”

Vishwakarma said that he grew up in a slum in Mumbai and faced civic issues first hand. “It was only after I went to college that I learnt to see these issues through a social justice lens and the internet gave me the chance to express my lived experiences. This is the basic philosophy of the internet which the bill wants to snatch away.”