The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a fresh advisory to online platforms, including social media companies, asking them to strictly ensure that obscene and unlawful content is not allowed on their platforms. The advisory was issued on Monday and serves as a reminder for platforms to follow existing digital laws more carefully.

The ministry clarified that the advisory does not introduce any new laws or penalties. However, it expressed concern that many online platforms are not fully complying with current rules related to decency, obscenity, and user safety. MeitY warned that continued non-compliance could lead to legal action against intermediaries, platform owners, and even users.

According to the advisory, the government has received multiple complaints and observations from the public, stakeholders, Parliament discussions, and courts, pointing out that certain types of content circulating online may be violating Indian laws. These concerns prompted the ministry to remind platforms of their legal responsibilities under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

MeitY explained that content moderation means identifying, reporting, and removing content that is obscene, indecent, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic, harmful to children, or otherwise illegal. The ministry reminded platforms that they are legally required to do this under Section 79 of the IT Act and Rules 3 and 4 of the IT Rules, 2021.

The advisory placed special emphasis on Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT Rules, which requires platforms to make reasonable efforts to ensure that users do not upload, share, or publish unlawful or obscene material. It also stated that once a platform receives a court order or an official notice from the government, it must remove or block access to the illegal content within a fixed time frame.

Also, platforms are required to remove content within 24 hours if it shows an individual in a sexual act or falsely depicts them in such situations, once a complaint is received from the affected person or someone acting on their behalf.

To avoid legal consequences, MeitY has advised all online platforms to immediately review their internal policies, strengthen their content moderation systems, and improve their user enforcement mechanisms. The goal is to ensure full compliance with existing digital laws.

The ministry warned that if platforms fail to meet their legal obligations, they may lose their legal protection under Section 79 of the IT Act, which currently shields intermediaries from liability for user-generated content. In such cases, platforms could face action under the IT Act as well as the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.