The Modi government has removed Smriti Irani as Information & Broadcasting Minister, handing over the portfolio to her deputy in a cabinet reshuffle announced on Tuesday night. The Wire quoted sources saying that one of the reasons for her ouster was the circular announcing that fake news would be regulated. While that circular was swiftly withdrawn following pushback from journalists, the Ministry later formed a committee to regulate online media as a whole; that includes entertainment as well as news websites. While that committee has also faced pushback — in the form of an open letter signed by dozens of journalists — it remains in force. But over a month into the committee's formation, it is unclear whether it has even met. MediaNama has reached out to all the members of the committee to find out what progress has been made since it was formed. What happens to the committee? While she headed the Ministry when the committee was formed, Smriti Irani didn't technically create it. The committee was in fact formed by Amit Katoch, a career bureaucrat, who heads the Ministry's New Media Cell. As such, it is still in force. Even though Rajyavardhan Rathore, the new I&B Minister, has been friendly to the entertainment industry, in particular, promising to them in private to loosen government censorship powers, it is unclear if he will move to roll this committee's creation back. "Anybody who knows anything about this government knows that not a feather moves without the Prime Minister giving his…
