New Delhi: The IT Rules have been changed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to make it clear that only senior officials have the power to issue content take-down notices pursuant to section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act. The updated rule, which will be effective from November 15, is expected to make the content removal process at social media companies more accountable and transparent. So far the junior officers in Central and State governments, such as sub-inspectors and assistant sub-inspectors, had been empowered to make such orders.
On October 22, MeitY announced that take-down notices will be authorised only by officers of the joint secretary grade or higher, or also by police officials of the rank of deputy inspector general (DIG) or higher. Where the joint secretary is not present, such an agent as a director or an officer of the same rank may perform the same role. According to the minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the move was meant to keep the digital governance structure in the government more accountable.
Clearer process and review mechanism
The ministry directed that any takedown notices should be explicitly formulated with the nature of the law, particular statutory ledger and information, including the URL or identifier of the illicit material. Failure of intermediaries to comply may lead to the removal of their safe harbour under the IT Act, which is the immunity against liability of platforms due to third-party content.
Periodic review and deepfake focus
To facilitate control, the government will periodically review them under the chairmanship of an officer whose rank is not below that of a secretary, i.e., Home Secretary or IT Secretary. MeitY has also suggested changes along with this change in order to address the ever-increasing issue of deepfakes. The action follows legal difficulties by other social networks such as X that have protested against the wide-ranging take-down authority of lower-level officials.