Synopsis
The government is considering expanding the remit of the Information Technology Act, 2000 to empower critical ministries such as defence, home affairs, external affairs and information and broadcasting to issue content blocking orders under Section 69(A) of the legislation, officials told ET.Any such move will ensure that the existing safeguards and mandatory review process for such orders remain in place, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) officials said.
Currently, only MeitY has the power to issue takedown notices under this law. But officials cited the need to ensure faster response times to counter misinformation behind the latest move. "This is needed to effectively deal with the rising challenge of artificial intelligence-generated content, which is proliferating across many areas under the purview of multiple ministries," an official said. At inter-ministerial discussions held so far, other ministries have shown interest in exercising independent authority, he added.
Blocking orders under Section 69A is limited to preventing incitement to specific cognisable offenses under sovereignty and security grounds under Article 19(2) of the Constitution, which empowers the state to impose reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression. These include protecting the sovereignty & integrity of India, ensuring the defence of the country and the security of the state, maintaining friendly relations with foreign states and keeping public order.
It also ensures a comprehensive set of safeguards under the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009 that include recording the reasons for blocking in writing, a hearing for the intermediary and ideally the content creator, and a final order signed by a designated officer at every ministry.
"These are envisioned to stay in place. In emergency cases where quick action is required, the post-decision review of blocking orders will be done, similar to what happens now," another official said.
Another route adopted by government agencies to issue blocking orders is under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, under which various ministries can issue blocking orders through the Sahyog portal. Operated by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre under the union Ministry of Home Affairs, the portal was created in September 2024 to automate the process for sending takedown notices to social media platforms. It triggers whenever content is "prohibited under any law for the time being in force". This covers everything from copyright infringement and defamation to financial fraud and obscenity.
Section 79 provides 'safe harbour' protection to online intermediaries acting as neutral hosts, from liability arising out of third-party content. But it has been criticised by social media platforms, primarily X (formerly Twitter), as an exceptional provision that sidesteps procedural guidelines. The Elon Musk-owned platform told the Karnataka High Court that thousands of officials had issued arbitrary orders without judicial oversight under this section.
Subsequently, MeitY amended the IT rules to ensure that directions to digital intermediaries including social media platforms, internet service providers and search engines for removing unlawful content are only issued by certain senior officials. Since November 15, 2025, only senior government officers at joint secretary levels and above, and police personnel of deputy inspector general ranks and above, can send out intimations.
