India unveils new rules to regulate Facebook, WhatsApp content

Indian PM Narendra Modi’s BJP government is tightening the leash on Big Tech, with regulations to make social media companies more accountable

Meanwhile, Facebook ended its week-long blackout of Australian news and announced preliminary deals with three small local publishers

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India's Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad addresses a press conference on social media platforms and new regulations. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:09pm, 26 Feb 2021Updated: 2:09pm, 26 Feb 2021

India announced new rules on Thursday to regulate content on social media, making Facebook, WhatsApp and others more accountable to legal requests for swift removal of posts and sharing details on the originators of messages.

The code – part of an effort by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist government to tighten the leash on Big Tech – come after Twitter recently ignored government orders to drop content related to farmers’ protests.

India is the largest market by users for both Facebook and its messenger service WhatsApp.

The new rules issued by the government, called the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, will be legally enforceable.

They will require big social media companies to set up a grievance redressal mechanism and within three months appoint new executives to coordinate with law enforcement. They will also be obliged to remove content within 36 hours of receiving a legal order.

Social media firms should be “more responsible and accountable”, said Ravi Shankar Prasad, the minister for information technology.

The government also said companies need to assist in probes or other cyber security-related incidents within 72 hours of receiving a request. They must also disable within a day any post depicting an individual in a sexual act or conduct, said the rules.

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