Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) advised media entities and online advertisement intermediaries to refrain from carrying advertisements and promotional content of betting platforms.
Taking strong exception to the recent instances of mainstream media transgressing set norms, rules and previous warnings, the MIB said, “The Ministry has been informed of recent instances where news publishers, including mainstream English and Hindi newspapers, have published/printed advertisements/promotional content of betting sites/platforms, which are clearly violative of the statutes and the various norms/guidelines issued by MIB.
It is also noticed that some of the news publishers have carried advertisements of a betting platform in which the audience are being encouraged to watch a sports league on its platform, which prima facie appears to be a case of piracy of content and violative of the Copyright Act, 1957.
While emphasizing on the legal obligation as well as the moral duty of the media, the government advisory refers to provisions of the norms of journalistic conduct of the Press Council which, mentions that “newspapers should not publish an advertisement containing anything which is unlawful or illegal…………”, and further that “the newspapers and periodicals should scrutinize the advertisement inputs from ethical as well as legal angles in view of the editor’s responsibility for all contents including advertisement, under Section 7 of PRB Act, 1867.”
Revenue generation alone cannot and should not be the sole aim of the Press, juxtaposed much larger public responsibility, the advisory quoted from the norms.
The Ministry had earlier issued advisories in the months of June and October, 2022 stating that betting and gambling are illegal, and, hence, direct or surrogate advertisements of such activities falls foul of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Press Council Act 1978, Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and other relevant rules.