Centre warns media platforms against advertisements of betting, gambling
New Delhi, April 6: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has advised media entities, media platforms and online advertisement intermediaries to refrain from carrying advertisements/ promotional content of betting platforms.
According to the advisory issued on Thursday, the Ministry has taken strong exception to the recent instances of mainstream English and Hindi newspapers carrying advertisements and promotional content of betting websites.
The advisory was issued to all media formats, including newspapers, television channels, and online news publishers, and included specific instances of such advertisements that had lately appeared in the media. The Ministry has also objected to a specific betting platform's promotion urging viewers to watch a sports league on its website, which appears to be in breach of the Copyright Act of 1957.
While emphasising both the moral and legal responsibilities of the media, the Advisory refers to provisions of the Press Council's Norms of Journalistic Conduct, which state, among other things, 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 with much larger public responsibility".
The Ministry previously issued Advisories in June and October 2022 stating that betting and gambling are illegal and that direct or surrogate advertisement of such activities violates the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the Press Council Act 1978, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and other relevant statutes.
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- ANI
