On Thursday, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a new warning against gambling and betting commercials and warned media outlets, platforms, and online ad intermediaries to stop running them.
The government has expressed its strong opposition to recent instances in which popular English and Hindi newspapers have published advertising and other content promoting gambling websites. The government issued a warning and asked media organizations, media platforms, and online ad middlemen to stop running betting platform commercials or promotional content.
The advisory was issued to all media forms, including newspapers, television networks, and online news publishers, according to a formal statement, which provided specific examples of recent examples of such advertisements in the media.
The ministry also objected to a particular betting platform’s promotion that urged viewers to watch a sports league on its website even though it initially appeared to be in breach of the Copyright Act of 1957.
The guideline observed that the Press Council of India’s Norms of Journalistic Conduct rules state that, ”newspapers should not publish an advertisement containing anything which is unlawful or illegal.” ”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,”citing the norms of Journalistic Conduct, it stated.
The Consumer Protection Act of 2019, the Press Council Act of 1978, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules of 2021, and other relevant laws prohibit the direct or indirect promotion of gambling and betting, according to advisories released by the ministry last year.