Abstract

In India the rapid growth of ‘New Media’ (NM) has been both “sustainable and inclusive” but it poses formidable challenges for the existing regulatory framework for NM. Such a regulatory framework requires transformative reforms to strengthen the ‘New Media’ sphere. However, the ‘New Media (NM) development discourse in India has undergone huge transformative changes in the wake of digitisation and the great impact of COVID-19 pandemic. This has changed the entire picture of the ‘media world’ and now this is not only used by the government or public but also it is for the conceptualization of human freedom that is only possible by the means of democracy like new media. In this very writing attempt has been made to understand the role and significance of the “Telecom Regulatory Authority of India” (TRAI) with regard to the ‘New Media’ sphere. This paper is an attempt to unravel the current regulatory framework, ‘censorship discourse’ in digital media, progressive policies of the government, and a way forward, by an analytical examination of the TRAI Act. In response to rapid changes in modern technology, we must also acknowledge the various challenges that we confront as far as ‘new media’ is concerned. In this study, we conducted a research survey with more than 130 questionnaires that comprised both closed and open sets of questions along with open field interactions with experts and further it will extend to the online survey. However, In India new media paradigms differ hugely on account of myriad political, societal, cultural and economic norms. Therefore, there is hardly any universal notion of new media due to changing context, that we need to keep in mind while dealing with the relevancy of the regulatory body. There are mixed trends from media industry stakeholders as well as the general public in terms of censorship for online content and the removal of content for violating some sentiment or sensibility.