{"id":69784,"date":"2025-10-23T11:50:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T06:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=69784"},"modified":"2025-10-23T11:50:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T06:20:41","slug":"government-tightens-online-content-blocking-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/government-tightens-online-content-blocking-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Tightens Online Content Blocking Rules, Adds Senior-Level Oversight"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Content blocking Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ministry of Electronics and IT is amending its content blocking rules. Under the new rules, <\/span><b>only senior officials at the Centre and state levels can issue content removal notices<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This aims to ensure greater accountability and prevent misuse of online blocking powers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>New Safeguards for Content Blocking<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) is amending the Information Technology Rules, 2021 to ensure that only senior officials can issue online content blocking notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means that content removal requests sent to platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) will now be authorised only by:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Joint Secretary (JS)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or an <\/span><b>equivalent officer<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at the Centre or state level,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Director-level officers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> where no JS exists, and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In police departments, <\/span><b>Deputy Inspector General (DIG)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or above, specifically authorised.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each order must specify:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The legal basis and statutory provision,<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The nature of the unlawful act, and<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The specific URL or digital location of the content to be removed.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, all such orders will undergo a <\/span><b>monthly review <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by an officer not below the rank of Secretary, such as the IT Secretary (Centre) or Home\/IT Secretaries (State).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>amendments will come into effect from November 15<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and a <\/span><b>Template Blocking Order<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will be provided to central and state agencies for uniformity in issuing lawful takedown notices.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Rule 3(1)(d): The Basis for Safeguards<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new rules focus on <\/span><b>Rule 3(1)(d) of the <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/it-intermediary-guidelines-and-digital-media-ethics-code-rules-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which allows officials to flag specific online content.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When a government notice is issued under this rule, social media platforms lose \u201c<\/span><b>safe harbour\u201d protections<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014meaning <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">they may be held legally responsible for user-generated content unless they justify or remove it<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Officials clarified that such notices are not direct takedown orders but warnings indicating that safe harbour protections no longer apply to the flagged content.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Reason for the Amendment<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to a senior official, in some states, junior police officers such as sub-inspectors and assistant sub-inspectors had been issuing blocking notices to social media companies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new amendment seeks to prevent misuse of power by restricting this authority to senior officers, thereby ensuring greater accountability and transparency.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Experts say that the move would ensure all blocking orders are <\/span><b>reasoned, justified, and issued by senior officials<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Background: X\u2019s Legal Challenge<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Elon Musk\u2019s X (formerly Twitter) had earlier challenged the government\u2019s use of Rule 3(1)(d), calling it unconstitutional and arbitrary, claiming it enabled local police officers to issue \u201ccensorship\u201d orders nationwide.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the Karnataka High Court recently upheld the government\u2019s authority to empower officials under this rule.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Officials clarified that the new amendments are not a response to X\u2019s case, though they do address some of its concerns by formally restricting who can issue such orders and mandating detailed justifications.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Section 79(3)(b) vs Section 69A<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Section 79(3)(b):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Allows the government to direct platforms to remove <\/span><b>any unlawful content<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, failing which they can lose <\/span><b>safe harbour protection<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (legal immunity for user-generated content).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Section 69A:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Permits blocking content only if it affects <\/span><b>sovereignty, integrity, defence, or security of India<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new changes bring more clarity, accountability, and uniformity in applying Section 79(3)(b), aiming to <\/span><b>balance content regulation with due process<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/business\/centre-senior-officials-flag-unlawful-content-blocking-10321390\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IE<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/it-ministry-amends-it-rules-2021-to-add-accountability-for-state-central-governments\/article70190024.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TH<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> | <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbctv18.com\/india\/news\/centre-tightens-rules-for-online-blocking-orders-introduces-senior-level-safeguards-19723466.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CNBC<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MeitY revises IT Rules to ensure only senior officials issue content blocking orders under Section 79(3)(b), boosting accountability and preventing misuse of online takedown powers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":69794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[3350,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-69784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-content-blocking","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}