The emergence of Satellite and Cable mode of transmission has brought about a paradigm shift in the nature and scope of communication where television has today become a leading disseminator of information, transcending national boundaries, which is shared across lines of class, gender, race, age, religion, geography, and ethnicity.
As Television is now a part of the consciousness of millions of households throughout the Country shaping morals and opinions, there have been demands that some form of censorship should be imposed on the television channels that show ‘entertainment’ programs such as serials, music videos, films and reality shows. The theory behind any attempt to censor content is to protect citizens from violent or sexually explicit scenes that tend to corrupt the minds of people. But there are also those who argue that every individual has a right under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Indian Constitution that guarantees the freedom of speech and expression it is the right of the people to know what is happening in the society that is also depicted by programs on television. They feel that censorship constitutes a serious threat to freedom of speech and expression. And such contrasting and conflicting attitudes and approaches as to should the television content be regulated or not may be resolved possibly through self regulation in TV, through a conscious effort of optimum utilization of freedom and blending it with reasonable restrictions for welfare of the public.
Until 2011, an attempt to regulate the television content was made in the form of programming and advertising code which was merely a list of kind of programmes not permitted on television incorporated under Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995, but it was inadequate to control the content being shown on Cable TV as the responsibility of implementing these codes was left to the cable operators who had no expertise to know whether a program was adhering to these codes or not. Then the Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines were incorporated to check objectionable content objectionable unauthorized content, messages, or communication inconsistent with public interest or national security.
The responsibility given to TRAI as an interim measure till Broadcasting Authority of India was formed was a great boost in the regulatory process in media. TRAI got the responsibility of access and distribution and job of drafting the content regulations was assigned to a sub-group formed in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry which has issued a draft that lays down Self Regulation Guidelines helping in guiding the Broadcaster Service Provider in offering their programming services in India.
The responsibility of complying with the provisions of the Certification Rules vests with the Broadcasting Service Provider as it would help in regulating the content going into public domain to ensure that the present community standards are conformed with and the vulnerable sections are protected from the sections from harmful and undesirable content on TV. To implement these guidelines a body has been set up by the IBF to function as an autonomous organization free from any influence of any other organization and also free from any pressure or Government intervention so that an enabling environment can be provided to facilitate creativity and promote plurality of ideas.
The IBF has adopted with suitable modifications the Ministry of Information Broadcasting’s Self-Regulation Guidelines for Broadcasting Sector draft version of 2008, which has been formulated after a comprehensive consultative process by over40 stakeholders from across the Government, civil society, NGOs, Industry. These guidelines set out premises and ethical practices to guide the BSP in offering their programming services and help them conform to the program code prescribed under the Cable TV Network Act, 1995 irrespective of the platform used for the broadcasting of programs. These guidelines have been drafted to introduce greater specificity and detail to facilitate Self Regulation by the broadcasting industry and minimize subjective decision.
“40 stakeholders from across the Government, civil society, NGOs, Industry. These guidelines set out premises and ethical practices to guide the BSP in offering their programming services and help them conform to the program code prescribed under the Cable TV Network Act, 1995 irrespective of the platform used for the broadcasting of programs. These guidelines have been drafted to introduce greater specificity and detail to facilitate Self Regulation by the broadcasting industry and minimize subjective decision.”
The most important feature of these guidelines is a two-tier mechanism for ensuring compliance to the Content Code & Certification Rules under the guidance of the Program Code by the GEC, Non news and current affairs Channels and redressal of consumer grievances at the industry level. The self-regulation at the individual TV Channel (TVC) level would be the responsibility of the Standards and Practices Department of the concerned Broadcasters. At the next higher industry level, a Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC), would examine complaints about television programs, received from the viewers or any other sources, including NGOs, RWAs Ministry of Information and Broadcasting etc., and ensures that the programs are in conformity with the Content Guidelines.
The Broadcasting Content Complaint Council reported that it had received 717 specific complaints related to crime and violence, sex, and nudity and many of the complaints were found to be violating the self-regulatory guidelines. The BCCC directed some channels that since these programs were not suitable for telecast during general viewing hours, they should suitably modify the content and air such programs during restricted viewing hours. In some cases, channels completely took programs off air.
The Self-Regulatory Guidelines have become quite effective and have an influence in a short span of time and the Broadcasting Service Provider has been a successful moral guardian which is helping in endeavoring creativity and building sensitive content and challenging issues along with upholding the reasonable restriction to freedom of speech and expression by implementing a stringent censor mechanism.
The Complaint Mechanism through the BCCC has altered the television entertainment by encouraging greater audience feedback. Now the focus is on what is in the interest of society rather than what just interests society. There is a need to recognize BCCC in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and give it a statutory framework so as to foster conviction and trust for achieving the objective of its adherence.
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