From Social Media to OTT Platforms: Government Enforces Strict Accountability to Curb Obscenity, Misinformation and Cyber Offences Online

Provision

Details

Restricted information

under Rule 3(1)(b)

Restricts hosting, storing, transmitting, displaying or publishing information/content that, among other things, is:

• obscene, pornographic, invasive of another's privacy, insulting or harassing on the basis of gender, racially or ethnically objectionable, or promoting hate or violence;
• harmful to child;
• deceives or misleads, including through deepfakes;
• impersonates others, including via Artificial Intelligence;
• threatens national security or public order;
• violates any applicable law.

User Awareness

Obligations

Intermediaries must clearly inform users through terms of service and user agreements about the consequences of sharing unlawful content, including content removal, account suspension, or termination.

Accountability in
Content Removal

Intermediaries must act expeditiously to remove unlawful content upon court orders, reasoned intimation from Government, or user grievances, within prescribed timelines.

Grievance Redressal

• Intermediaries to appoint Grievance Officers
• Mandates to resolve complaints through removal of unlawful content within 72 hours.

• Content violating privacy, impersonating individuals, or showing nudity must be removed within 24 hours against any such complaint.

Grievance Appellate Committees (GACs) Mechanism

Users can appeal online at www.gac.gov.in if their complaints are not addressed by the intermediaries' Grievance Officers. GACs ensure accountability and transparency of content moderation decisions.

Assistance by

Intermediaries to

Government Agencies

Intermediaries must provide information under their control or assistance to authorised Government agencies for identity verification, or for the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of offences, including cyber security incidents.

Additional Obligations

of significant social

media intermediaries

(SSMIs) (i.e., social

media intermediaries

having 50 lakhs or above registered user base in

India)

• SSMIs offering messaging services must help law enforcement trace originators of serious or sensitive content.

• SSMIs to use automated tools to detect and limit spread of certain unlawful content.

• SSMIs to publish compliance reports, appoint local officers, and share physical address based in India for compliances and law enforcement coordination.

• SSMIs to offer voluntary user verification, internal appeals, and fair hearing before taking suo-moto action.