Centre may shelve proposed registration of digital media under PRB Act: Official | India News,The Indian Express

According to the proposed amendments to the PRB Act, the government plans to shift registration of newspapers and periodicals to a web portal and make the process of checking for availability of a newspaper title digital.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry had proposed to include registration of digital media as part of amendments to the Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act, 1867, but is likely to shelve it after it received comments against the move.

“We are reviewing that proposal. Registration of digital media may not be there in the final version,” the official said.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, at a media event, had said that the government planned to amend the PRB Act which dated back to the colonial era as part of its efforts aimed at “ease of doing business” in the media sector.

“Starting a newspaper was a cumbersome task. One had to do several rounds of the office of District Magistrate and offices in Delhi. I assure you that this entire process will be done online. If it takes about four months to register a newspaper, it will happen within seven days,” Thakur said.

He said the government had left the issue of regulation of print and digital media to the respective sectors.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/digital-media-newspapers-regulations-prb-act-8290051/

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