The Union government is set to amend the 2021 Information Technology Rules to ensure that only senior officials at the central and state levels can issue orders for the removal of content from social media platforms, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, reported The Hindu on Wednesday.

Vaishnaw said that the new provisions will also require such officials to provide a “reasoned intimation” each time a takedown order is passed. “The accountability of the government increases with this change,” Vaishnaw told reporters.

The proposed amendments, which are yet to be formally notified, will specifically address Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules. 

According to this rule, a social media platform must remove any unlawful content when ordered by a competent court or notified by the government authorities as per Section 79 of the IT Act 2000. If the companies fail to do so they risk losing impunity from legal action for third party content.  This applies to content prohibited by law concerning India’s sovereignty and integrity, state security, foreign relations, public order, decency or morality, contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to offences related to these matters.

Under this framework, the government introduced Sahyog, an online portal launched in October 2024, through which officials can issue content removal notices to social media platforms. The system effectively expanded these powers to include ordinary police officers at the district level, allowing them to issue takedown notifications. Critics, including social media companies and digital rights groups, argue that Sahyog functions as a parallel but  unchecked censorship tool that bypasses legal safeguards designed to protect online expression. They also contend that the system lacks transparency and due process.

Officials said the proposed amendments have been prompted by instances in which police officers of relatively junior rank, such as sub-inspectors and assistant sub-inspectors, had issued takedown requests. The amendments are intended to standardize the process of issuing takedown orders and strengthen procedural safeguards.

Once the proposed amendments take effect, all takedown orders will be reviewed monthly by an officer not below the rank of secretary to the government, according to The Indian Express.

The revised rules will require each order to clearly state the legal basis and statutory provision invoked, describe the nature of the alleged unlawful act, and identify the precise link or electronic location of the content to be removed. 

The reports cite government officials claim that the decision to amend the rules is unrelated to the petition filed earlier this year by social media platform X (formerly Twitter). 

The social media giant had approached the Karnataka High Court after receiving multiple takedown orders from the Ministry of Railways regarding posts about a stampede at New Delhi Railway Station in February.

The company argued that the Centre had misused Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act to compel content removal, bypassing Section 69A, which explicitly governs online content blocking on grounds such as national security and public order.

In September, the court, however, upheld the validity of Sahyog system.