The ministry of information and broadcasting on Monday has reportedly withdrawn the latest draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024.

The ministry announced that it is working on a draft and a “fresh draft will be published after detailed consultations”. It said it is holding a series of consultations with the stakeholders and the window for suggestions has been extended up to October 15.

However, its statement on X did not refer to the latest controversial draft which was shared with an exclusive group of industry stakeholders and had triggered fears of digital censorship and government overreach. The ministry only referred to a draft shared with stakeholders in November last year.

An Indian Express report noted that the statement had confused stakeholders. “Are we supposed to send our comments on the November 2023 version of the now withdrawn draft, because a copy was never formally shared with us,” a person from the industry told the paper.

Meanwhile, Hindustan Times and Money Control reported that the government had asked all stakeholders to return physical copies given to them, citing sources aware of the matter.

A press conference had last week discussed the challenges and implications of the proposed law. It was organised by Digipub News India Foundation, India’s largest coalition of digital news media entities, media commentators, and journalists. 

Newslaundry earlier reported that several journalist bodies had raised concerns over the bill “irreparably damaging free speech”.

Watch this explainer to understand what made the latest draft controversial.

Update at 9.50 am on August 13: This report has been updated with additional details.