Growth of Indian Press - General Knowledge of Modern India
In 1780, James Augustus Hickey started the letter 'Bengal Gazette' or 'Calcutta General Advertiser' which was confiscated in 1872 for his outspoken criticism of the government. But this effort of Hickey established the press in India Later many newspapers and journals were published, such as Bengal Journal, Calcutta Chronicle, Madras Courier and Bombay Herald. The evolution of the Indian press is described below-Read More History: Indian National Congress History - General Knowledge of Modern India
Lord Wellesley imposed censorship on the press under the Press Act, 1799 due to the fear of French attack on India.
Press Act, 1835 or Metcalf Act: Metcalf (Governor General, 1835-36) withdrew the objectionable ordinance of 1823, for this reason he is called the 'Liberator of the Indian Press'.
Licensing Act, 1857: This act implemented the licensing restrictions and the government was given the right to stop the publication and distribution of books, newspapers and other printed material.
The Registration Act, 1867: This act relaxed the restrictions imposed by the Metcalf Act of 1935 and called for the government to play a regulatory role and not a restrictive one.
Vernacular Press Act, 1878: It was created to establish better control over native language letters, give effective punishment and suppress anti-government writing. The following are the provisions of this Act-
- The District Magistrate was given the power to call upon the publisher and printer of any vernacular newspaper to sign a contract with the government in which it was mentioned that any kind of material against the government Will not publish nor will publish any material that spreads hatred between people of different religions, castes, races. The printer and publisher also had to deposit security money which could also be forfeited for breach of contract.
- The decision of the magistrate was final, against which an appeal could not be made in the court.
- Indigenous language newspapers could be exempted from this act only if they submitted the relevant material to the government before publication.
Newspapers (Motivation of Offenses) Act, 1908: This act empowered the Magistrate to confiscate the press property of a paper publishing objectionable material, such as incitement to murder, incitement to violence, etc.
Indian Press Act, 1910: This was a revamp of the Vernacular Act which empowered the local government to deposit the security amount from the printer/publisher at the time of registration and if any violation was committed by the newspaper. If so, it can be confiscated or can cancel the registration. Also the printer of the newspaper had to submit two copies of each edition to the local government.