Cybercrime and IT Rules: MeitY’s Additional Secy Calls for Multistakeholder ‘Coalition’ Amid Digital Threats

New Delhi: As cybercrime continues to evolve in the digital era, protecting personal data and ensuring online security remain urgent priorities. Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), Abhishek Singh, recently addressed these concerns, emphasizing the critical need for broader ‘coalition’ against cybercriminals exploiting digital platforms.

Speaking on the threats posed by cybercrime, Singh highlighted the increasing cases of cyberstalking, particularly targeting young individuals and children. He noted that criminals engage in activities such as child sexual abuse, online harassment, and the distribution of pornographic content.

He stressed that existing legal frameworks mandate social media intermediaries to remove objectionable content within 24 hours and ensure a robust reporting mechanism for such offenses.

Additionally, he underscored the importance of collaboration between the government, private sector, startups, academia, and community organizations to enhance cybersecurity awareness and protection.

“How do we ensure personal data protection and personal data security in the age of cyber crime? We also have a lot of cyber criminals who are stalking young people, who are stalking children, who are indulging in content related to child sexual abuse, who are using pornographic content, who are stalking, and who are harassing especially women. For that, there are specific provisions that require social media intermediaries to remove any content which is objectionable, which is content related to child sexual abuse, within twenty-four hours, and there are provisions for reporting this through their grievance officers, which every social media platform has built. It all requires making everyone aware that these are being reported and addressed as quickly as possible. What we also need to do is to build a coalition with the government, with private sector partners, with industry, with startups, and with academia to ensure that awareness about cyber security and cyber crime is more widespread.”

IT Rules 2021: Strengthening Compliance and Digital Safety

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, impose stringent obligations on intermediaries to take swift action against online abuse.

These regulations mandate that intermediaries remove content exposing an individual’s private areas, depicting partial or full nudity, impersonation through digital means, or sexually explicit material within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.

To facilitate this, intermediaries are required to implement a user-friendly complaint mechanism, ensuring efficient reporting and redressal of violations.

Key Provisions of IT Rules 2021:

1. Obligations of Intermediaries:

   • Platforms must publish their terms of service, privacy policy, and user agreements prominently.
   • Users must be informed about restrictions on content, including prohibitions on defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, privacy-invasive, and unlawful material.
   • Intermediaries must take reasonable steps to prevent the hosting, publishing, or sharing of content that is harmful to children, promotes violence, or infringes intellectual property rights.

2. Action Against Illegal Content:

   • Social media intermediaries must act on user complaints regarding objectionable content, particularly privacy violations, child sexual abuse material, and explicit content, within 24 hours.
   • Significant social media intermediaries offering messaging services must identify the first originator of a piece of content upon legal request, in cases involving national security, public order, or severe criminal offenses such as child sexual abuse.
   • Platforms are required to use automated tools to detect and prevent the circulation of previously removed explicit content.

3. Grievance Redressal Mechanism:

   • Every intermediary must appoint a Grievance Officer whose contact details should be prominently displayed on the platform.
   • The officer must acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and resolve them within 15 days.
   • Requests for the removal of certain sensitive content must be acted upon within 72 hours to prevent misuse and ensure user safety.

4. Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC):

   • The Central Government has established Grievance Appellate Committees to handle cases where users are dissatisfied with an intermediary’s resolution.
   • Each committee consists of a chairperson and two independent members, tasked with resolving appeals within 30 days.

The GAC website was established in 2023 and since then the committee has received te  2948 appeals, while 2760 appeals are being disposed of by the committee.

Enhancing Digital Security and Awareness

Abhishek Singh’s remarks highlight the urgent need for a multi-stakeholder approach in combating cybercrime.

The IT Rules 2021 reinforce digital accountability by requiring intermediaries to proactively monitor and remove harmful content while ensuring transparency through structured grievance redressal mechanisms.

As cyber threats continue to rise, collaboration between government bodies, industry players, and civil society will be crucial in making online spaces safer and more secure for all users.

Singh reiterated that stricter compliance and continuous technological advancements will play a key role in strengthening India’s digital ecosystem against emerging cyber threats.

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