MeitY Proposes To Make Advisories Legally Binding For Social Media Platforms

Expanding the centre’s oversight on digital media platforms, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. 

The proposed changes, issued under Section 87 of the IT Act, 2000, social media intermediaries like Meta, Google, X, will be required to “comply with clarifications, advisories, orders, directions, standard operating procedures, codes of practice or guidelines” issued in relation to the implementation of the rules. 

The framework tightens content takedown obligations for intermediaries. Platforms hosting information that may be used to commit “unlawful acts” will be required to remove such content within three hours of receiving “actual knowledge”.

This would arise either through an order from a court of competent jurisdiction or through a “reasoned written intimation” issued by an authorised government officer.

Compliance with such directions will form part of the due diligence obligations under Section 79 of the IT Act, which determines whether intermediaries retain safe-harbour protections from liability for third-party content. 

The rules further require that any government intimation directing a takedown must clearly specify the legal basis, statutory provision invoked, the nature of the unlawful act, and the exact URL of the content that must be removed. These notices will also be subject to monthly review by a senior government official to ensure they remain necessary, proportionate and consistent with the law.

Separately, the amendments expand the scope of the digital media regulatory framework to include news and current affairs content posted by users on intermediary platforms, even when such users are not publishers themselves.

MeitY has invited stakeholders to submit feedback on the draft amendments by April 14, 2026. Once cleared, the government expects the amendments to improve legal certainty and ensure effective oversight of intermediary-hosted content, particularly news and current affairs.

This adds to the regulatory scrutiny over content posted on social media. 

Earlier this month, the government was also mulling to empower more ministries to issue takedown orders for social media content. The ministries of home affairs, external affairs, defence, and information and broadcasting were said to be allowed to issue content blocking orders to social media platforms. 

Earlier this year, the MeitY tightened the noose around deepfake content circulating on social media by altering the IT Act. In February, the ministry introduced a definition of “synthetically generated information”, which covers audio, visual or audio-visual content that is altered in a manner that appears real or authentic.

Beginning February 20, platforms have been mandated to label AI-generated content and ensure users can easily identify it as “synthetically generated”. Intermediaries that enable the creation or dissemination of such content would be required to ensure that it is clearly and prominently labelled as synthetically generated. 

Besides, the central government is also considering restricting social media usage for minors. Earlier this month, the Karnataka government proposed banning social media usage for children under the age of 16, while Andhra Pradesh is set to impose a ban for children below 13 years of age.

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