Licensing Regulations 1823
Also called: Adam's Regulation · Topic: Print Culture and the Modern World · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Licensing Regulations of 1823 were press rules issued by John Adam, the acting Governor-General. Every printer and publisher had to get a licence from the government, and the government could withdraw it at any time. Starting or running a press without a licence was punished. These rules were among the first strong controls on the Indian-language press. They were removed in 1835.
Example
In 1823 Rammohun Roy shut down his Persian weekly Mirat-ul-Akhbar. He did this in protest against the new licence rules rather than give in to them. It was one of the earliest Indian protests for press freedom.
Don't confuse with
- Press Act of 1835 (Metcalfe Act): this repealed the 1823 rules and restored press freedom.
Related concepts
- Censorship of Press Act 1799
- Press Act of 1835
- Licensing Act 1857
- Hindu Patriot
- Som Prakash
- Press and Registration of Books Act 1867
- Amrita Bazar Patrika
- Vernacular Press Act
- The Hindu
- Swadesamitran