Online news portals brought under Information & Broadcasting Ministry

New Delhi, Nov 11: The government has issued an order bringing online news portals under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The order issued by the government and signed by the President brings digital or online media, films and audio visual programmes, news and current affairs content under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The move comes at a time when there is no law or autonomous body governing digital content. The order says that this would apply to films and audio visual programmes made available by online content providers and news and current affairs content on online platforms.

Last year, I&B minister, Prakash Javadekar had said that the government will not take any step that may curb media freedom. However, he said that there should be some kind of regulation on the OTT platforms as there is for the print and electronic media.