X challenge prompts policy shift; content takedown orders get senior sign-off

New Delhi: The IT ministry has stipulated that intimation to social media platforms for removal of “unlawful information” can only be issued by senior officials and would require precise details and reasons to be specified, as it notified an amendment to the IT Rules to streamline content takedown procedures and bring transparency, clarity and precision in actions. 

The move comes weeks after the Karnataka High Court dismissed X Corporation’s challenge to the government’s takedown framework and upheld the Sahyog portal, a backdrop against which the Centre is now emphasising senior-level sign-offs, reasoned notices and periodic review.

Under the revised framework for Rule 3(1)(d), intermediaries remain obligated to remove unlawful information upon receiving actual knowledge through a court order or notification from the appropriate government. 

What changes is the bar for government action: any intimation can now be issued only by a senior officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary, or equivalent (or, where such rank is not appointed, a Director or equivalent), and, where authorised, through a single corresponding officer in the authorised agency. 

For police authorities, only an officer not below the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), specially authorised, can issue such intimation. 

Further, all intimations under Rule 3(1)(d) will undergo a monthly review by an officer not below the rank of Secretary of the appropriate government to ensure actions remain “necessary, proportionate, and consistent with law”.

The amendments tighten drafting requirements, too. The intimation must clearly specify the legal basis and statutory provision, the nature of the unlawful act, and the specific URL/identifier or other electronic location of the information, data or communication link to be removed. 

By mandating detailed, URL-specific and reasoned intimations, the government says intermediaries will have clearer guidance to act in compliance with law while adding checks and balances to prevent arbitrary restrictions.

“On the Rule 3(1)(d)… accountability of the Government increases with this change and we will be giving a reasoned intimation whenever any such order is passed. The orders will be passed at a fairly senior level, Joint Secretary and above, DIG and above,” IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told mediapersons.

According to the ministry, the changes seek to balance citizens’ constitutional rights with the state’s legitimate regulatory powers by codifying who can issue directions and how, and by instituting a periodic Secretary-level review. 

Coming in the wake of the Karnataka High Court verdict, the government’s emphasis on senior-level accountability, precision and oversight addresses the key points of debate, transparency of process, clarity of directions and proportionality, while preserving the enforcement tools available under the IT Act, 2000.