Indian government can now block social media content directly
The Indian government is updating IT rules so that four more ministries, Home Affairs, External Affairs, Defense, and Information and Broadcasting, can order social media blocks without waiting for approval from the tech ministry.
This means decisions about what stays online could happen a lot faster.
What does this mean for platforms?
With AI-generated misinformation and security threats on the rise, these new rules aim to speed up how quickly harmful or fake content gets taken down.
Platforms are required to comply with government-issued takedown or blocking orders within a 2-3 hours window (commonly cited as three hours) (and 2 hours for deepfake pornography), or they risk losing their legal protections.
Plus, proposals would allow additional central ministries to issue blocking orders directly; state nodal officers continue to participate under existing processes, so expect quicker action on blocking orders across platforms like Facebook and X.