Social Media, OTT Under Strict Rules As Govt Enforces Accountability To Curb Obscene, Unlawful Content: Key Points

2025-12-17 06:23:59

(MENAFN- Live Mint) The Central government has enforced strict rules to enforce accountability on social media and OTT platforms and deal with unlawful and obscene content online. The IT Act and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021) provides punishment for various cyber offences such as privacy violations (section 66E), publishing or transmitting obscene or sexually explicit content (sections 67, 67A, 67B), and also empowers police to investigate offences (section 78), enter public place, search and arrest suspected person under section 80.

Key provisions under IT Rules, 2021:

Provision	Details
Restricted information under Rule 3(1)(b)	It 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 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.

In case of failure of the intermediaries to observe the legal obligations as provided in the IT Rules, 2021, they lose their exemption from third party information provided under section 79 of the IT Act.

They are liable for consequential action or prosecution as provided under any extant law.

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