The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry on Thursday issued a fresh advisory warning the media entities, platforms and online intermediaries against advertisements of betting and gambling.

In the new advisory, the Ministry took strong exception to the recent instances of mainstream English and Hindi newspapers carrying advertisements and promotional content of betting websites. The government would be constrained to take appropriate legal action against any non-compliance, it said.

“The advisory has been issued to all media formats, including newspapers, television channels, and online news publishers, and showed specific examples where such advertisements have appeared in the media in recent times,” the Ministry said, objecting to the promotion by a specific betting platform that encouraged the audience to watch a sports league on its website in prima facie violation of the Copyright Act.

While emphasising the “legal obligation as well as the moral duty” of the media, the advisory referred to the provisions of the Norms of Journalistic Conduct of the Press Council. It mentions that “newspapers should not publish an advertisement containing anything which is unlawful or illegal…”.

The Ministry said another provision stated that “the newspapers and periodicals should scrutinise 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 [Press and Registration of Books] Act, 1867. Revenue generation alone cannot and should not be the sole aim of the Press, juxtaposed much larger public responsibility”.

The advisory said: “In spite of the above very clear position, the Ministry has been informed of recent instances where news publishers, including mainstream English and Hindi newspapers, have published/printed/advertisements/promotional content of betting sites/platforms which are clearly violative of the statutes and the various norms/guidelines issued thereunder as also goes against the very spirit of the advisory issued by MIB [Ministry of Information & Broadcasting]”.

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In June and October 2022, the Ministry issued advisories stating that “betting and gambling are illegal, and hence direct or surrogate advertisements of such activities falls foul” of the Consumer Protection Act, Press Council Act, Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules and other relevant statutes.