India tightens grip on social media

The latest changes to India's already controversial Information Technology Rules will give the government the final say on what stays on social media platforms, and what doesn't.

The Indian government will create a three-person grievance redressal committee to veto moderation decisions made by social media platforms, according to legal changes adopted on October 28. The panel, which will be set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), will effectively have the final say on social media content, DW reports.

The changes were first made public earlier this year and received widespread pushback from tech companies and public policy activists. MeitY had then defended its position, citing concern that social media platforms were violating user rights.

"A number of (technology) Intermediaries have acted in violation of constitutional rights of Indian citizens," the ministry said, without providing details.

The same amendments have now been notified, turning it into law.

Under the modified rules, social media firms will be required to acknowledge complaints from users within a day and resolve them within two weeks, although a special 72-hour deadline would be imposed in case of an information takedown request.

This is the latest move in the long-running push by the government to gain control over social media firms such as Meta and Twitter, as Indian authorities continue to clash with big tech companies.

The IT Rules, which came into effect in 2021, require social media platforms with more than 5 million users to locate the source of a post if required by local authorities — a tool that activists fear can lead to surveillance. The government is currently fighting a case in the Delhi High Court where WhatsApp had filed a lawsuit to block this traceability clause.

Meanwhile, the government ordered takedowns of several Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts since 2021, citing a threat to national security and sovereignty. In July 2022, the microblogging website Twitter filed a case against the government in a regional high court regarding the same issue. It alleged that the government had abused its power by ordering it to arbitrarily remove several tweets from the platform.

The latest amendments, in addition to those already enforced, will give the government unprecedented control over the content on social media.