Press Act of 1835
Also called: Metcalfe Act · Topic: Print Culture and the Modern World · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 5 "Print Culture and the Modern World"
Meaning
The Press Act of 1835 was a liberal press law, also called the Metcalfe Act. Indian and English editors had petitioned against strict controls. In response, Governor-General William Bentinck had Thomas Macaulay draw up new rules that restored the earlier freedoms. The Act was passed in 1835 under Charles Metcalfe, who took charge after Bentinck. Printers and publishers now only had to declare where they printed.
Example
The Act cancelled John Adam's Licensing Regulations of 1823, which had made editors like Rammohun Roy close their papers. Because of this law, Metcalfe is often called the "liberator of the Indian press". The number of newspapers grew in the years after 1835.
Don't confuse with
- Vernacular Press Act 1878: a harsh law aimed at Indian-language papers. The 1835 Act did the opposite and gave the press more freedom.
Related concepts
- Censorship of Press Act 1799
- Licensing Regulations 1823
- Licensing Act 1857
- Hindu Patriot
- Som Prakash
- Press and Registration of Books Act 1867
- Amrita Bazar Patrika
- Vernacular Press Act
- The Hindu
- Swadesamitran