India mandates 24-hour takedown of non-consensual intimate content online
What's the story
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that mandates online intermediaries to remove or disable access to non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) content within 24 hours of being reported. The move comes after directions from the Madras High Court and is in line with Rule 3(2)(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Reporting mechanisms
Multiple channels for reporting NCII content
The SOP provides several channels for victims to report NCII content. These include One Stop Centres (OSCs), in-app reporting tools on digital platforms, the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), and local police stations. The OSCs will also provide legal assistance and counseling to the victims. All intermediaries are required to act within 24 hours of receiving a complaint, according to the SOP.
Tech implementation
Implementation of hash-matching and crawler technologies
Significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs) are also required to implement hash-matching and crawler technologies. These will help prevent the reappearance of similar or identical content. The SOP also mandates intermediaries to report actions taken and coordinate with government systems such as Sahyog, a part of the Ministry of Home Affairs's Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C).
Central coordination
I4C will be the central repository for NCII complaints
The I4C will be the central repository for NCII complaints and maintain a secure NCII hash bank. The Department of Telecommunications will work with internet service providers to block flagged URLs, while MeitY will monitor compliance and inter-agency coordination. This SOP is part of efforts to curb the spread of such content online and protect victims from its harmful effects.
Compliance requirements
Intermediaries must acknowledge removal action to complainant
The SOP requires intermediaries to act on complaints from individuals, authorized representatives, or government agencies and acknowledge the removal action to the complainant. It also directs significant social media intermediaries to deploy crawlers or similar technologies for proactive detection and removal of reuploads of NCII. Platforms will have to generate and share hashes (unique digital fingerprints of reported images/videos) with the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center (I4C) through the Sahyog Portal.
Information updates
Search engines required to de-index flagged material
The SOP also mandates intermediaries to periodically update complainants about the removal status, including if the same content reappears online. Search engines are required to de-index such content from search results. If flagged material is hosted on other websites, intermediaries must alert the I4C through the Sahyog Portal for immediate follow-up and inform affected individuals. Content delivery networks and Domain Name Registrars must render flagged content inaccessible within 24 hours.