Examiner Bureau | Srinagar:
Jammu and Kashmir’s proposed new media policy is expected to be finalised soon, with the draft currently under examination and provisions being considered to cover social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, Director Information Mamta Yadav said on Thursday.
Yadav said the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) was responding to queries raised during the scrutiny of the draft and expressed hope that the policy would be cleared at the earliest.
She was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Hansi Ke Rang, Sangeet Ke Sang, an event organised by the department’s Cultural Unit Kashmir.
“If any policy is made, there is a process for it. We have sent a draft and are continuously responding to the queries that are coming in,” Yadav said.
She said the proposed framework was being developed in view of changes in the media landscape, particularly the growing influence of social media in communication and public relations campaigns.
“Social media has grown significantly today, with platforms like Instagram and Facebook. We have included these aspects in the new policy,” she said.
The proposed policy is being formulated amid growing debate over the regulation of digital news platforms, online trolling and the spread of misleading information. These issues also featured in discussions in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly during its recently concluded autumn session.
The existing media policy, introduced in 2020, empowered the DIPR to scrutinise journalists’ backgrounds and provided for withholding advertisements from media organisations over content categorised as anti-national or fake news.
The proposed 2026 framework is expected to take account of the expanding digital media ecosystem, although its final provisions and the precise scope of its application have yet to be confirmed.
The proposed changes have also drawn attention from digital media platforms and press freedom advocates, who have raised concerns about the potential impact of regulatory provisions on freedom of expression and the possibility of self-censorship.
With the draft still under examination, the final policy is expected to clarify how the government intends to address emerging challenges in digital communication while defining the responsibilities and obligations of media organisations and online platforms.
