Online newspapers asked to get registered [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Online newspapers asked to get registered

Local November 10, 2015

The government on Monday asked publishers of all online newspapers to get registered with the Press Information Department under the information ministry.
The Press Information Department, in a handout, said that it had started a process of registration of online newspapers to ensure the government benefits to check ‘yellow journalism’ and to ensure that their publishers could get government facilities.
The publishers of online newspapers will have to apply for the registration by December 15, 2015, said the handout.
This was a primary step to recognise the online media and to ensure government facilities for them, information secretary Martuza Ahmed said.
‘Any media outlets including newspapers and televisions having online publications of news will have to get registered with the PID,’ he told New Age.
He said that the initiative was taken in accordance with a draft online mass media policy proposing provisions for mandatory registration of all online newspapers and news portals.
The move came a couple of weeks after the cabinet committee on law and order on October 28 reportedly asked for finding ways to hold the online newspapers and news portals responsible for ‘misleading and inconsistent information.’
The secretary said that it was necessary to discipline the growing online mass media and make them responsible.
The government has already drafted the National Online Mass Media Policy 2015 proposing establishment of a National Broadcasting Commission to coordinate and monitor online news portals.
The draft policy prescribes bans on posting what it calls misleading and inconsistent
information and data.
The secretary said the draft policy was now at the final stage.
No permission is now required to launch a website with information, photographs and video or audio clips.
All publishers of online newspapers will have to fill up specific form and affidavit and submit them to the informational department for registration, the handout said.
The samples of the form and affidavit are available at the protocol section of the department as well as on the department’s website www.pressinform.portal.gov.bd, it said.
The department will provide registrations to online newspapers after examining all information.
The draft online media policy provides for imposing restrictions on posting news and advertisements on the internet.
The mandatory provision for registrations would be equally applicable for the existing online editions of newspapers and television channels, according to the draft policy.
The draft policy, already posted on the information ministry website, says that objective of the policy would be ensuring ‘accountability and freedom’ of the media by protecting the rights of the people and individual citizens.
It is almost like the objective set out in the National Broadcasting Policy 2014, which has drawn widespread criticism for empowering the government to impose ‘draconian restrictions’ on publication and broadcasting of news and advertisements.
Most of the newspapers are now running online editions for which no permission is needed. The private television TV channels are also running online news portals.
According to the draft policy, the country had over 2.27 crore internet users as of January 2015.
The draft policy also proposed a provision prohibiting posting of information and data on online portals that could spark separatism and unrest or create hatred among people of different castes and religions.