·
Issued under:
o
Section 87(1)
o
Clauses (z) and (zg) of Section 87(2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000
·
Applies to intermediaries (e.g.,
social media platforms, hosting providers) where unlawful content is:
o
Hosted
o
Displayed
o
Published
o
Transmitted
o
Stored
·
Content prohibited under any
law relating to:
o
Sovereignty and integrity of
India
o
Security of the State
o
Friendly relations with
foreign States
o
Public order
o
Decency or morality
o
Contempt of court
o
Defamation
o
Incitement to offences
related to the above
·
36 hours
to remove or disable access to such content after receiving “actual knowledge”
Can
arise only through:
1.
Court
Order
o
From a court of competent
jurisdiction
2.
Reasoned
Intimation in Writing
o Issued by an authorized officer:
§
Not below the rank of Joint Secretary (or
equivalent) of the Central/State Government
§
Or a Director if Joint
Secretary is not appointed
§
Must act through a single authorized agency,
if designated
o If issued by police:
§
Officer must be Deputy Inspector General (DIG)
or above
§
Must be specially authorized
by the Appropriate Government
·
All such takedown intimations
must be:
o
Reviewed monthly
o
By an officer not below the rank of Secretary
of the Appropriate Government
o
To ensure:
§
Necessity
§
Proportionality
§
Consistency with Section
79(3)(b) of the IT Act
·
Must clearly specify:
o
Legal basis and statutory
provision
o
Nature of the unlawful act
o
Precise
URL/identifier/location of the content to be removed
or disabled
[MeitY
Notification G.S.R. 775(E) dated 22 October, 2025]
G.S.R. 775(E).— In exercise of the
powers conferred by sub-section (1), clauses (z) and (zg)
of sub-section (2) of section 87 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of
2000), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules to further amend
the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics
Code) Rules, 2021, namely:—
1. (1) These rules may be called the
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code)
Amendment Rules, 2025.
(2) They shall come into force on the
15th day of November, 2025.
2. In the Information
Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021,
in rule 3, in sub-rule (1), for clause (d), the following clause shall be
substituted, namely:—
“(d) an intermediary, on
whose computer resource the information which is used to commit an unlawful act
which is prohibited under any law for the time being in force in relation to
the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India; security of the State;
friendly relations with foreign States; public order; decency or morality; in
relation to contempt of court; defamation; incitement to an offence relating to
the above, or any information which is prohibited under any law for the time
being in force is hosted, displayed, published, transmitted or stored shall,
upon receiving the actual knowledge under clause (b) of sub-section (3) of
section 79 of the Act on such information, remove or disable access to such
information within thirty-six hours of the receipt of such actual knowledge,
and such actual knowledge shall arise only in the following manner, namely:—
(i)
by
an order of a court of competent jurisdiction; or
(ii)
a
reasoned intimation, in writing,—
(I)
issued
by an officer authorised for the purpose of issuing
such intimation by the Appropriate Government or its agency, being not below
the rank of Joint Secretary or an officer equivalent in rank or where an
officer at such rank is not appointed, a Director or an officer equivalent in
rank, to the Government of India or to the State Government, as the case may
be, and, where so authorised, acting through a single
corresponding officer in its authorised agency, where
such agency is so appointed:
Provided that where such intimation is to be issued by the police
administration, the authorised officer shall not be
below the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police, especially authorised by the Appropriate Government in this behalf:
Provided
further that
all such intimations shall be subject to periodic review by an officer not
below the rank of the Secretary of the concerned Appropriate Government once in
every month to ensure that such intimations are necessary, proportionate, and
consistent with clause (b) of sub-section (3) of section 79 of the Act and this
clause;
(II) clearly specifying the legal
basis and statutory provision invoked, the nature of the unlawful act, and the
specific uniform resource locator, identifier or other electronic location of
the information, data or communication link required to be removed or
disabled;”.
[F. No. 2(4)/2025-CyberLaws]