New Delhi: The government has reduced the timeline for social media platforms to take down sensitive online content to just two hours from the earlier 24 hours, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.
Amendments to the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021, notified on February 10, 2026, aim to strengthen the regulatory framework against harms arising from synthetically generated information, including deepfakes and AI-generated content.
The changes tighten compliance timelines. Platforms must now remove unlawful information within three hours of receiving a valid, reasoned intimation from the appropriate government or a court order, down from 36 hours.
Grievance redressal timelines have also been cut: from 72 hours to 36 hours in general, and from 24 hours to two hours for sensitive categories such as nudity and impersonation, the statement from MeitY said.
Significant social media intermediaries—platforms with more than five million users in India—are required to make reasonable efforts to deploy technical measures, including automated tools, to proactively identify content depicting rape, child sexual abuse material, or similar previously removed material.
Failure to meet these obligations under the IT Rules will result in the loss of the safe harbour protection provided under Section 79 of the IT Act.
Platforms will then be liable for consequential action or prosecution under applicable laws, the statement said.
