The Centre is exploring whether social media platforms should remove unlawful content within one hour, down from the current 2-3 hour window notified last month, The Indian Express reported on March 24. A senior government official said platform compliance track records with the current timeline will determine whether the government moves ahead.
What the current rules say: In February, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notified amendments to the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, significantly cutting content takedown timelines. Platforms must now remove non-consensual intimate imagery within two hours and all other unlawful content within three hours of receiving a government notice. The previous window was 24-36 hours. Industry executives call the current window the shortest content takedown timeline prescribed by any government in the world.
The three-hour provision did not appear in the October 2025 draft rules, meaning it went through no public consultation before MeitY added it to the final notified version. MediaNama has filed an RTI with MeitY asking whether any inter-ministerial or industry consultation took place before the provision was introduced.
The broader censorship picture: The one-hour proposal is one of several moves the Centre is making to expand its content-blocking infrastructure:
- The government may allow the ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Defence, and Information and Broadcasting to directly issue blocking orders under Section 69A of the IT Act, a power currently limited to MeitY.
- The government is considering amendments to the IT Rules to prohibit “obscene” content on digital news outlets and video-on-demand platforms, with a definition broad enough to cover content that “criticises segments of social, public and moral life of the country.”
- The Home Ministry’s Sahyog portal, which runs a parallel blocking mechanism under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, continues to expand. X Corp’s appeal against the portal is pending before the Karnataka High Court.
Takedowns already happening: The government has escalated from blocking individual posts to withholding entire X accounts under Section 69A, with multiple accounts critical of the government withheld in recent weeks. Several users also reported individual posts blocked under Section 69A with no explanation given. X’s blocking notice to users states it is “unable to provide additional information due to legal restrictions.”
Why compressed timelines are a problem: Tech companies have privately contested the new timeline. Meta told The Indian Express the norms are “challenging” to comply with operationally and that the government did not consult industry before notifying the rules. At a closed-door meeting on February 25, IT Secretary S. Krishnan told companies there would be no extensions or exemptions from complying, The Tech Trace reported.
Compressed timelines leave little room for legal review of borderline or context-heavy content, including satire and posts critical of the government. A potential one-hour window would compress this further, pushing platforms even more toward removing content first and assessing legality later, a pattern known as precautionary takedowns. By then, the damage to the user is already done.
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