National interest in 30 minutes.

"With the benefit of hindsight, it has come to feel inevitable that Twitter would turn into a cesspit of abuse and misinformation," wrote Lydia Polgreen. "India's government had demanded that Twitter block tweets and accounts from a variety of journalists, activists and politicians." "Twitter is seeking to overturn some of the orders by the Indian government to take down content from its platform in a legal challenge that alleges abuse of power by officials, a source familiar with the matter said. The microblogging company's attempt to get a judicial review is part of a growing confrontation with the Indian government over content regulation." ET. "Independent journalism is increasingly under threat in India. Much of the mainstream press has been neutered by a mix of intimidation and conflicts of interest created by the sprawling conglomerates and powerful families that control much of Indian media." In a new diktat, "TV channels will have to broadcast 30 minutes of public content daily, including themes of national interest." BT. "The government will not provide the content for the channels. TV channels are free to create and broadcast their own content, I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra said." This means that private companies will have to spend their own cash to create content and, since people will have the freedom to switch channels to escape such boring waffle, channels will not get any commercials for these 30 minutes. Will the government force all channels to broadcast this tosh at the same time to prevent escape? Private channels started operating in India in 1992, wikipedia. Till then we had just the government-owned channel Doordarshan. It was mind-numbingly boring, showing Krishi Darshan (farmer show) at prime time. Firstpost. It used to show Hindi film songs once a week for 30 minutes on Chitrahar but even that would be interrupted by an infamous message "Vilamb ke liye khed hai" meaning 'delay is regretted'. "Autocracies force the media to carry content, but not respectable democracies," wrote Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar. "India is ranked 150th out of 180 countries in media freedom by Reporters Without Borders." "All new rules give politicians and bureaucrats power over producers and recipients of content." "They facilitate the extraction of bribes and favors." That may be the whole idea. Themes of national interest will naturally feature government programs. And most carry pictures of the prime minister. Very handy for the general election in 2024. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman scolded Collector of Kamreddy district in Telangana Jitesh Patil for not displaying the photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at fair price shops, ET, perhaps forgetting that these shops are supplied by taxpayer money and not by her party, the BJP. Anyone daring to protest could have their homes bulldozed. BBC. To broadcast this brutal practice to the world a yellow bulldozer was used as a float by people of Indian origin in a parade in the US town of New Jersey. Reuters. They can force television channels. But they can't stop us from switching off. After all, we are the nation.