Overview
- MeitY released a draft amendment on Monday that opens consultation through April 14 and would expand the 2021 IT Rules to cover news and current-affairs posts by users who are not publishers.
- A new Rule 3(4) would require intermediaries such as Meta, Google and X to follow ministry clarifications, advisories, directions and SOPs as part of due diligence under Section 79, putting safe-harbour at risk if they do not comply.
- The draft extends the digital media Code of Ethics to user-posted news and broadens the Inter-Departmental Committee so it can act on cases the government refers, enabling the I&B Ministry to order blocks or changes to such content.
- Platforms would need to remove content that could be used to commit unlawful acts within three hours of a court order or a reasoned notice from an authorised officer, and they must retain specified user data for at least 180 days.
- Digital-rights groups, led by the Internet Freedom Foundation, warn the plan expands executive control over online speech as courts weigh earlier IT Rules, and they expect heavy compliance pressure that could drive over-removal and self-censorship by creators and platforms.