Morning, hope you all had a great weekend, and welcome to Monday. And we're just nine days away from the U16 social media ban coming into force and a story - and nice picture - this morning around Comms Minister Annika Wells's moving motivation to push for the ban. That story by Nicola Smith in The Australian Financial Review is both heartfelt and insightful and ends with this: "Getting such a complex and contentious policy right won't be easy." Well, that's probably the understatement of the year, but nevertheless spot on. Watch this space, as they say, because no doubt once the ban comes into force there will be reams and reams of column inches.  Still on the media and still with the AFR, Sam Buckingham-Jones on page 17 ('News media eyes $600m yearly boost') reports that "five  of the world's biggest tech companies - Google, Meta, TikTok, Apple and Microsoft - will be incentivised to

HT Media has announced the closure of two radio stations in Chennai, citing financial and strategic non-viability. As reported by medianews4u, one of the stations—94.3 FM—had already gone off air several weeks earlier. Its license was formally surrendered by HT’s subsidiary, Next Radio Limited, leading to the station’s official shutdown on October 24, 2025. The second station, Fever FM (91.9 MHz), will stop broadcasting from December 24, 2025. HT Media’s other subsidiary, HT Music and Entertainment Company (HTME), has already decided to give up its licence and has informed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. In a filing to SEBI, HT Media said both stations were being given up voluntarily even though the licences were valid until March 2030. The company said the Chennai stations brought in very little revenue and were not aligned with its long-term plans. In the last financial year, 94.3 FM earned Rs 2.17 crore and Fever FM 91.9 earned Rs 4.58 crore, together con

Aashish Dixit, 39, a journalist with the Press Trust of India (PTI), passed away on Thursday, November 27, following a prolonged illness. Dixit, a seasoned journalist with 15 years of experience, joined PTI Video Service as a senior correspondent in 2022. He is survived by wife and six-year-old daughter, PTI reported.

                        A journalist, Sudip Biswas was allegedly dragged out of his house and attacked by three individuals. The incident took place on Monday night, November 24. According to Siliguri Times, Biswas identified the attackers as Tanmay Roy, Deep Dey and Pankaj Das. After the assault, Biswas approached the Bhorer Alo Police Station, filed a formal complaint, and an investigation began.      

Image source: News18; Edited by Dinesh Raj M   Every few years, the internet forces the law to look into a mirror — and the reflection is rarely pretty. On Thursday, the Supreme Court stepped into that uncomfortable space again, telling the Centre that India can no longer rely on takedowns, outrage, or voluntary codes to deal with harmful online content. By the time a disturbing video, an obscene reel, or a piece of inflammatory disinformation is removed, the damage is already done. What India needs, the Court said, is a preventive sieve, not a censorship clampdown — a framework that protects free speech while shielding millions who currently have no defence against viral harm. The message was clear: user-generated content has outpaced existing regulation, and the country must now decide what a responsible digital public square looks like. HOT OFF THE PRESS From The Times of India, Dhananjay Mahapatra captured the heart of the bench’s concern: self-regulat

The Gujarat High Court on Thursday, November 27, issued a notice to journalist Mahesh Langa after the state government challenged the anticipatory bail granted to him last year in a cheating case, The Indian Express reported. The case was filed by the Detection of Crime Branch in Ahmedabad based on a complaint from an advertising agency owner. The complainant alleged that he had transferred nearly Rs 29 lakh to Langa for different purposes, and when he later asked for the money back, he was allegedly threatened with negative publicity. In November 2024, a sessions court had granted Langa anticipatory bail, noting that the offence carries a maximum punishment of seven years and that the dispute appeared to be mainly about non-payment of money, making it civil in nature. The state government has now appealed that decision. Justice UT Desai admitted the petition and sought Langa’s response. The High Court will hear the matter again on December 11.

The Delhi High Court has questioned the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) over inadequate paperwork in the case involving Reuters journalist Raphael Satter, whose Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card was revoked in December 2023. The court told the MHA counsel, “Your officers have completely distorted it.” According to Newslaundry, Satter’s OCI status was cancelled last year for allegedly practising journalism without required permission and for work the MHA claimed was “maliciously creating adverse and biased opinion” against Indian institutions internationally. Appearing for Satter, advocate Karuna Nundy argued that his journalism had been in the public interest and had even received awards. She said the MHA had cited one article written seven years ago about third-party user data issues in an app, and raised objections after several years. She added that although the MHA listed three dates of alleged violations, Satter had not published any article on two of those dates.