Govt considering cutting online content blocking timeline from 2-3 hours to 1 hour

The government is thinking about cutting the present 2-3 hours window for online content takedown to just 1 hour, subject to the social media platforms compliance history. Expanded Censorship Powers: The ministries such as Home Affairs, Defence, and I&B could be given the authority to block content, which is currently limited to the IT Ministry only.

Compliance Challenges & Impact: Platforms are getting more and more pushed to quickly remove illegal, obscene, and even critical content. This is not just about posts accounts but also AI-generated material. Meta-type companies have already warned about the hardship of their operations.

After notifying a strict 2-3 hour content takedown timeline for social media platforms last month, the Centre is exploring whether the window should be further shortened to an hour, underscoring a growing consensus within the government of removing more content from the internet quicker, The Indian Express has learnt.

The consideration is a preliminary stage at this point, a senior government official said, requesting anonymity, adding that the government may or may not move ahead with it. “What would play a crucial role in determining whether the timeline should be further shortened to an hour is the compliance track record of social media companies with the recently implemented 2-3 hour time window,” said the official.

In February, the IT Ministry notified amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. One of the most contentious changes it has implemented is that social media platforms must now remove content within 2-3 hours as opposed to 24-36 hours before. Industry executives say the new timeline is the shortest takedown window prescribed by any government in the world.

Last week, The Indian Express reported that the Centre may soon allow the ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Defence, and Information and Broadcasting to issue content blocking orders to social media platforms under Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, a power currently only available to the IT Ministry – showcasing the growing ambit of India’s online censorship mechanism.

This is only one of the ways in which the government is doubling down on blocking content on social media. Other attempts include plans to introduce new no-go areas under a new definition of “obscene” content, and of course, expanding a parallel content blocking mechanism under Section 79 (3)(b) of the IT Act, which is managed through the Home Ministry’s Sahyog portal.

Though the government insists that it only acts on illegal content, users on social media have been flagging that many of their posts which were satirical or critical of the government, and not necessarily illegal, have been impacted as companies ramp up their compliance infrastructure in the face of growing regulatory pressure. Not just particular pieces of content, but entire accounts on social media platforms like X – which typically shared anti-establishment content and commentary – have been blocked in recent weeks.

The IT Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Though tech companies have privately contested the 2-3 hour takedown timeline, it is understood that all major platforms have largely fallen in line to comply with the government’s directives. The government had previously said that timelines have been compressed as they received feedback from several stakeholders that the previous timelines were too long and did not prevent a content’s virality. “Tech firms certainly have the technical means to remove unlawful content much more quickly than before,” an official had earlier said.

The requirement to take down content quicker does not just apply to AI-generated content but a wide range of content that the law deems unlawful. Platforms must now remove non-consensual intimate imagery within two hours, as opposed to 24 hours earlier, and other forms of unlawful content within three hours, from an earlier requirement to act on it within 36 hours.

Raising concerns over these rules, social media giant Meta, which operates platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has previously said that the norms might be “challenging” to comply with from an operational standpoint. According to Rob Sherman, Meta vice president policy and deputy chief privacy officer, the government had not consulted with the industry before notifying the rules.

The Centre is also considering amendments to the Information Technology (IT) Rules 2021, to prohibit the proliferation of “obscene” content on video on digital news outlets, and video-on-demand platforms. The term could have a wide ambit, and may disallow content that contains defamatory allegations, “half truths,” “anti-national attitudes,” and “criticises” segments of “social, public and moral life of the country,” The Indian Express had earlier reported.