India may allow ministries to block content under Section 69A
India is reportedly considering empowering secretaries from key ministries, like home affairs, defense, and information and broadcasting, to issue blocking orders under Section 69A.
If implemented, the proposal would reduce the IT Ministry's (MeitY's) exclusive authority over Section 69A blocking orders and has been linked to concerns about AI-generated misinformation and deepfakes in general, rather than to any single named viral video.
The main goal? To respond faster to AI-driven misinformation spreading on social media.
The goal is to respond faster to AI-driven misinformation
With more ministries able to act directly, the government hopes fake news and viral deepfakes can be tackled much quicker, sometimes within hours instead of days.
There are checks in place, like written reasons for blocking and review committees, but some worry this could lead to messy enforcement or overload platforms with requests.
Officials said the move is about keeping up with how fast things go viral now.