New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has amended the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, introducing greater accountability for issuing content takedown notices to social media platforms. Senior officials said on 22 October that the changes aim to enhance transparency and oversight in the process of issuing such notices.
Announcing the amendment, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said: “The accountability of the government increases with this change.” Under the revised framework, every order to flag or restrict online content must include a reasoned explanation and can only be issued by senior officers of Joint Secretary rank and above in the Central government, and by officers of at least Deputy Inspector-General rank at the State level.
The changes focus on Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, which empowers government officials to flag online content in cases where platforms could lose their “safe harbour” protection from legal liability for user-generated content. Once flagged, platforms must defend such content as if they were publishers rather than intermediaries. Officials said the updated provision mandates that all notices be clear, specific and procedurally sound.
These notices must now explicitly state that they are warnings, indicating that safe harbour does not apply to the flagged content, and are not immediate takedown orders. The revision follows ongoing debate around Rule 3(1)(d), which social media platform X had earlier challenged in court, alleging misuse for censorship.
Government officials, however, clarified that the latest amendment is unrelated to the legal case and is intended solely to strengthen administrative accountability.
