India proposed on Monday to amend its Information Technology law to make notices and legal clarifications binding for internet platforms such as Meta, Google, and X. This is the latest in a series of stricter compliance requirements for technology giants. This year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government reduced the deadline for platforms to remove content flagged by authorities from 36 hours to three hours and introduced new obligations regarding AI-generated and “deepfake” content.
Currently, the Ministry of Information Technology’s notices to platforms – on issues ranging from labeling “deepfakes” to content removal practices – have functioned as non-legally binding advice. In the new proposed rules on Monday, the government declared that non-compliance with notices or guidelines issued by the Ministry of Information Technology would be considered a failure to meet the conditions of the safe harbor, the legal shield that protects platforms from liability for user-generated content.
The proposed changes aim to “strengthen enforcement” of directives and “enhance legal certainty,” the Ministry stated in an advisory inviting public comments by April 14.
Meta, Google, and X did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
