Centre warns social media platforms of legal action over obscene, unlawful content
The Centre has warned social media companies and other online intermediaries of strict legal consequences if they fail to act against obscene, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic and other forms of unlawful content hosted on their platforms.
In an advisory issued on December 29, 2025, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) directed platforms to review and strengthen their compliance and due diligence frameworks immediately.
The ministry reminded intermediaries that under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, they are required to observe due diligence as a condition for availing exemption from liability for third-party content uploaded or shared on their platforms.
“Intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, are statutorily obligated to observe due diligence under the IT Act,” the advisory said, adding that this obligation applies to all forms of third-party information hosted or transmitted through their services.
MeitY noted that it has observed a lack of consistency and rigour among platforms in identifying and acting against content that is obscene, vulgar, indecent or otherwise unlawful.
It reiterated that non-compliance with the IT Act and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 could attract serious consequences.
“It is reiterated that non-compliance with the provisions of the IT Act and/or the IT Rules, 2021 may result in consequences, including prosecution under the IT Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and other applicable criminal laws, against the intermediaries, platforms and their users,” the advisory stated.
The ministry further directed platforms to make reasonable efforts to ensure that users do not upload or share content that is obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, harmful to children, or prohibited under law.
Intermediaries have also been instructed to remove or disable access to unlawful content expeditiously upon receiving actual knowledge through court orders or reasoned intimation from the government or authorised agencies, and strictly within the timelines prescribed under the IT Rules.
According to MeitY, the advisory was issued after it observed that several social media platforms were not strictly enforcing safeguards against obscene, vulgar, inappropriate and unlawful content, highlighting the need for greater consistency in compliance and enforcement mechanisms.
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