I&B Ministry
Government not opposed to FDI in media: Reddy
NEW DELHI: The government today said that it was not opposed to foreign direct investment (FDI) in the media, including print and electronic.
Speaking at a special session on ‘The Future of Newspapers in the World’, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), here today, minister for information and broadcasting Jaipal Reddy said, “The recent Union Budget has lowered customs duties on printing equipment. There is no restriction on accessing technology, and we also welcome FDI in the media -print and electronic.”
Giving another positive indication,the minister, answering a query, said that the government was “taking a close look” at allowing facsimile edition of newspapers in India. According to him, “Our mind is not closed as it was earlier.”
The minister, however, cautioned that laws in India have not kept pace with the technological changes that the sector was going through. He said, “I am not advocating amendment of laws. As a staunch liberal, I will not propose stringent laws. Rather, I would like to see the industry self regulating itself.”
This, according to Reddy, was important as no law could keep pace with changing technologies. “I am sure that the print and electronic media will take upon themselves to exercise this discipline,” he added.
He assured that government would be happy to be engaged in regular dialogue with the print and electronic media on industry concerns, difficulties and issues.
Dwelling on the much talked about TV `sting’ operations, Reddy maintained that he was not opposed to investigative journalism- sting or otherwise.
Still, he said, ‘sting’ operations were acceptable as long as they maintained decency and did not venture into ‘porno journalism.’
On the never ending debate on the future of newspapers at the back of technological advancements, the minister said that he was optimistic about the future of newspapers across the world.
“I am an unabashed partisan of newspapers,” he said and, on a lighter note, commented his loyalty lay with newspapers, while “I owe my debt to television.”
Expressing hope, Reddy remarked that there was no reason why there could not be growth and expansion of existing newspapers in India, as also of new entrants.
“I say this because technology of news gathering and production is offering innovation to the newspaper industry and to the readers,” he reasoned.
Speaking on the occasion, the visiting CEO of the Financial Times Group, Olivier Fleurot, observed that there was future for newspapers even at the back of fast technological developments, provided the print medium showed some flexibility and enriched its content.
He said that since there were more options available with the readers, they have become demanding, which is why it would be “important to innovate” to survive the competition from electronic media and the Internet.
In his remarks, CII president Sunil Kant Munjal said that newspapers had the ability to carry the message in more detail, thus being very helpful to companies and their business.
I&B Ministry
India turns up the heat on piracy, orders Telegram to axe 3,142 channels and blocks 800 websites
New legal teeth, nodal officers and notices to intermediaries signal that the government is done playing nice with copyright thieves
NEW DELHI: India’s war on film piracy just got significantly more aggressive. The government has ordered Telegram to remove 3,142 channels distributing pirated content, blocked access to around 800 websites through internet service providers, and put the full weight of freshly sharpened legislation behind the crackdown. The message from New Delhi is unambiguous: the free ride for copyright thieves is over.
Minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan spelled out the legal architecture to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Cinematograph (Amendment) Act, 2023, he said, now contains specific provisions designed to make piracy a genuinely painful proposition. Sections 6AA and 6AB prohibit unauthorised recording and transmission of films, with violations attracting a minimum of three months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3 lakh. At the upper end, offenders face three years behind bars and fines of up to 5 per cent of a film’s audited gross production cost — a figure that, for a big-budget production, could run into crores.
The legislation also gives the government powers to act against intermediaries hosting infringing content, by notifying them under Section 79(3) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and compelling takedowns and blocking actions. Under Section 79(3)(b), intermediaries are legally required to remove or disable access to unlawful content upon receiving government notice or court orders. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, add a further layer of obligation, requiring platforms to ensure their services are not used to host or distribute content that violates copyright or proprietary rights.
To put enforcement into practice, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has established a dedicated institutional mechanism, complete with nodal officers to receive complaints. Copyright holders, authorised representatives or individuals can report piracy through a prescribed format, after which the government issues notices to intermediaries to disable access to infringing links.
The most headline-grabbing action came on 11 March 2026, when Telegram was formally notified under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and directed to remove and disable 3,142 channels found to be distributing unauthorised content belonging to OTT platforms, content owners and producers. The complaints that triggered the action came from OTT platforms including JioCinema and Amazon Prime Video, which alleged that copyrighted films, web series and other material were being shared on the platform on a massive scale. Telegram’s architecture, with its large file-sharing limits and capacity for user anonymity, has made it a favoured vehicle for exactly this kind of large-scale piracy.
The Telegram action sits within a broader pattern of escalating enforcement. Just days before the Lok Sabha statement, the ministry banned five OTT platforms for streaming obscene content: MoodXVIP, Koyal Playpro, Digi Movieplex, Feel and Jugnu. In July 2025, the Centre ordered the blocking of 25 OTT platforms accused of streaming obscene, vulgar or pornographic material, a list that included ALTT, ULLU, Big Shots App, Desiflix, Boomex, Navarasa Lite, Gulab App, Kangan App, Bull App, Jalva App, ShowHit, Wow Entertainment, Look Entertainment, Hitprime, Feneo, ShowX, Sol Talkies, Adda TV, HotX VIP, Hulchul App, MoodX, NeonX VIP, Fugi, Mojflix and Triflicks.
Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, provides the regulatory hook for those actions, prohibiting platforms from hosting content that is obscene, pornographic, invasive of privacy, gender-harassing, racially or ethnically objectionable, or that promotes hatred and violence.
For an industry that loses billions of rupees annually to piracy, the direction of travel is welcome. The question, as always, is not whether the laws exist, but whether the enforcement machinery can keep pace with the ingenuity of those determined to circumvent it. Three thousand channels down, and the pirates are already busy opening three thousand more.
