The Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has reported 13,000 instances of violations of regulatory norms by television channels in 2013-14.
These violations came to light after Guntur-based Edara Gopi Chand, an activist with Media-Watch India, waged a three-year battle to expose the poor regulation of content on India’s TV channels. Using the RTI Act, Mr. Chand succeeded in getting the EMMC to disclose information on TV channels violating programming and advertising codes after the Central Information Commission issued an order in March. After the EMMC disclosure in May, many violations in 2014-15 have been exposed.
EMMC data show 5,566 violations pertaining to distracting ‘part-screen’ and ‘scrolling’ ads that interfere with the programme and ‘paid promotional programmes’ telecast in the garb of news/interviews. By Rule 7(10) of the Cable Networks Rules, 1994, all advertisements should be clearly distinguishable from the programme and should not in any manner interfere with the programme such as using the lower part of the screen to carry captions, static or moving messages alongside the programme.
The EMMC reports 2,965 instances of surrogate advisements of liquor/tobacco products. It found 1,245 instances of misleading advertisements, which include superstitious and deceptive ads of kavachas, yantras , medicines, creams and so on, claiming to possess miraculous powers which are otherwise serious offences under the Drugs and Magic Remedies(Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1955.
“Merely publishing statistics of violations is meaningless unless the names of the violating channels and the nature or gravity of each of these violations is revealed. It is an open secret that the I&B Ministry sits on these reports without taking any action. It issues occasional ‘advisories’ to which no channel pays heed,” Mr. Chand said.
Free speech excuseAccording to information on the EMMC website, 37 per cent of the violations in 2014 pertained to vulgarity or obscenity and 11 per cent related to representation of women. But National Commission for Women chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam told The Hindu that no complaints pertaining to TV channels were received by her office, although complaints about social media often reach her.
“Even if complaints against TV channels do come to us, there is so much hoo-ha over freedom of speech these days, I wonder what concrete action we could initiate against them,” she said.
Mr. Chand says that when the Ministry enforces the regulations by prohibiting telecast of the offending channel for a few days, TV channels scream government regulation and approach the courts for relief, thus preventing any action.
