Govt preparing to 'gag' digital media, social media through broadcast bill: Priyanka Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday accused the Modi government of preparing to "gag" digital media, social media, OTT platforms and those who write and speak in a private capacity by bringing in the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, and said the country will not tolerate such actions.

The Congress general secretary shared on X two quotes from Mahatma Gandhi (Young India, 1922) and Jawaharlal Nehru (March 1940) in which they stressed the importance of freedom of speech and press.

"These two examples show that our citizens have not got freedom of speech and freedom of the press just like that. Millions of people have fought for it for years," Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

"Civil liberties and freedom of the press are the great legacy of our martyrs and freedom fighters," she said.

In the history of independent India, no government could ever think of crushing the freedom of the citizens, Priyanka Gandhi said.

"Today, on one side by the use of power, the entire media has been turned into a government mouthpiece, and on the other hand, the BJP government is preparing to gag digital media, social media, OTT platforms and even those who write and speak in private capacity by bringing the broadcast bill," she said.

"This is completely unacceptable. The country will not tolerate such actions," she asserted.

The Congress on Friday alleged that the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill was a direct threat to freedom of speech and the independent media and claimed that it would pave the way for "excessive surveillance" online.

Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera had urged people to raise their voices against what he termed as "government's tyranny".

While several people on social media have also been voicing their concern about certain reported provisions in the proposed law, the government has said the bill was still in the drafting stage and the stakeholders' consultation was underway.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan said, "The draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, seeking to replace the existing Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, and guidelines regulating the broadcasting sector was placed in the public domain for comments of stakeholders, including domain experts and the general public, on 10.11.2023." "The stakeholders' consultation is currently underway. The bill is still at the drafting stage," he had said.