The government is considering authorising some more ministries, including Defence, External Affairs, and Home Affairs, to issue content takedown orders to social media platforms, sources said on Wednesday.
Inter-ministerial discussions are currently underway, government sources said, but they did not provide a timeline for when this may be implemented.
At present, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) is the nodal ministry for takedowns and content blocking orders, and the latest move to expand the ambit of designated ministries would ensure that takedown orders can be issued faster on misleading, illegal content and AI-generated deepfakes.
Discussions are on with Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and Ministry of Home Affairs, government sources said adding that once decided, the changes can be brought through tweaks in IT Rules itself.
Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000, empowers the Centre to block public access to online content, websites, apps, or social media posts in the interest of national security, sovereignty and public order.
In February this year, the Centre tightened rules for social media platforms such as YouTube and X, mandating the takedown of unlawful content within three hours and requiring clear labelling of all AI-generated and synthetic content.
The new rules had come in response to the growing misuse of Artificial Intelligence to create and circulate deceptive, obscene, and fake content on social media platforms and those fabricating real-world events. It mandated embedding of permanent metadata or identifier with AI content and banned content considered illegal in eyes of law as well as shortened user grievance redressal timelines.
The response timelines were reduced to two hours for platforms to take down flagged content involving material that exposes private areas, and in case of full or partial nudity, or sexual acts.
The February amendment to IT rules aimed to curb such abuse by requiring faster takedowns, mandatory labelling of AI-generated content and demanding stronger accountability from platforms to prevent the promotion and amplification of unlawful synthetic material. It placed the onus on both social media platforms as well as AI tools.
Published on March 18, 2026
Source link
#Govt #mulls #authorising #ministries #issue #content #takedown #orders
