Ministry of Information and Broadcasting advises media entities against carrying betting platform advertisements

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued an advisory to media entities, media platforms, and online advertisement intermediaries advising them to refrain from carrying advertisements or promotional content of betting platforms. The advisory, issued on April 6, follows the Ministry's strong objection to recent instances of mainstream English and Hindi newspapers carrying advertisements and promotional content of betting websites.

The Ministry has taken exception to the promotion by a specific betting platform that encourages the audience to watch a sports league on its website. This promotion, which prima facie appears to be in violation of the Copyright Act, 1957, has raised concerns about the legality of such promotions and the responsibility of media entities in carrying them.

The advisory has been issued to all media formats, including newspapers, television channels, and online news publishers. The Ministry showed specific examples of such advertisements that have appeared in the media in recent times, and it reminded media entities of their legal obligation as well as their moral duty.

The advisory refers to provisions of the Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council, which state 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 Ministry had earlier issued advisories in June and October 2022, stating that betting and gambling are illegal, and hence direct or surrogate advertisements of such activities fall 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 statutes.

The Ministry takes strong exception to the recent instances of media entities carrying advertisements or promotional content of betting platforms and urges all stakeholders, including the media platforms and the various online advertisement intermediaries, to immediately refrain from showing such advertisements/promotional content in any form whatsoever.

The advisory emphasizes the larger public responsibility of the press and the need to scrutinize the advertisement inputs from ethical as well as legal angles. It warns that revenue generation alone cannot and should not be the sole aim of the press. If news publishers, etc. are found to be not adhering to the advisory, the government would be constrained to take appropriate action under the various statutes.

The Ministry's advisory comes at a time when concerns are being raised about the proliferation of online betting and gambling platforms in the country. The government has been taking steps to curb such activities, and the latest advisory to media entities is seen as a part of this larger effort.