The changes come as the government is making a wide-spread attempt to rein in content on social media. (File image)
Independent news creators on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and X have been proposed to be brought under a key legal framework which would allow the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to recommend issuing blocking orders to them directly, and also require them to apologise, or make changes to their content, if they are found guilty of any grievances an inter-departmental committee has received. The move is likely to raise concerns over the government’s increasing control on online speech.
As per draft amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, proposed on Monday, has recommended a slew of changes to Part III of the rules, which so far governed professional media organisations. Under the fresh proposals, the government is looking to empower the MIB to issue blocking orders to news content posted by users who are not defined as publishers, and also to intermediaries like social media companies. Some changes have also been recommended to Part II of the rules, which apply to social media companies. The government has invited comments to the draft until April 14.
“In effect, the government now can ask companies for information regarding a news creator on their platform and send them blocking orders directly, if these rules are finalised in the current version. These amendments clarify that legal position,” a senior government official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the press. The IT Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Popular news and current affairs creators such as Dhruv Rathee could fall under the ambit of these proposed changes, since they currently do not fall under the definition of a publisher. In fact, the proposed rules could be even wider in their coverage. For instance, even if a creator does not regularly make content related to news or current affairs, but creates something involving a current topic — say a stand-up comic making a joke about a government policy — could potentially fall under the ambit of the law. Globally, it is uncommon that a blocking order is sent directly to a creator, as such requests are typically routed through the platforms hosting their content.
The changes come as the government is making a wide-spread attempt to rein in content on social media. Users have been receiving blocking orders for satirical content they posted against the government, even though in many cases such content was not outright illegal. The Indian Express earlier reported that the government was looking to empower more ministries to issue blocking orders.
It is worth noting that the MIB, in the past, has sought to control online content posted by independent creators. In 2024, it had privately shared a draft version of the so-called Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, with a select few social media companies, under which it proposed introducing onerous regulations on independent creators of news events on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and X – sparking concerns over freedom of speech and expression and the government’s powers to regulate it. The Bill was eventually scrapped after wide-scale pushback against it.
As part of the draft amendments, the IT Ministry has also proposed that advisories issued by the government to social media intermediaries will have to be complied with and will form part of their due diligence requirements for retaining safe harbour – a protection that affords such platforms legal immunity from hosting user generated content. Thus, advisories, which so far were seen as legally non-binding will in effect be rendered to have regulatory backing and will have to be adhered to by social media platforms, failing which they may get exposed to legal challenges.
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“We issue a number of advisories to social media companies, but their compliance with them has been unsatisfactory. When we sent them an advisory, we found that they were not concerned by it at all. For example, in the past, when we asked them to act on AI generated content targeting women, we received no response from the companies. So it was decided that such advisories would need to be given more legal firepower,” a second government official said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
