The Centre has warned social media platforms and other online platforms of legal consequences if they fail to act against obscene, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic and other forms of unlawful content.
In an advisory dated December 29, 2025, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) directed social media firms to immediately review their compliance frameworks and act against obscene and unlawful content on their platform, failing which they may face prosecution under the law of the land, news agency PTI reported.
“Intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, are reminded that they are statutorily obligated under Section 79 of the IT Act… to observe, due diligence as a condition for availing exemption from liability in respect of third-party information uploaded, published, hosted, shared or transmitted on or through their platforms,” the advisory said.
The ministry noted that it has observed a lack of consistency and rigour among platforms in acting against obscene, vulgar, indecent and otherwise unlawful content. It reiterated that non-compliance with the IT Act and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 could lead to consequences, including prosecution under the IT Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and other criminal laws.
“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, BNS, and other applicable criminal laws, against the intermediaries, platforms and their users,” the advisory said.
The advisory reminded platforms that they are required to make reasonable efforts to ensure that users do not host, upload, publish, transmit or share content that is obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, harmful to children or prohibited under law.
MeitY also directed intermediaries to remove or disable access to unlawful content expeditiously upon receiving actual knowledge through court orders or reasoned intimation from the government or its authorised agencies, and strictly within the timelines prescribed under the IT Rules.
The Meity advisory came after the ministry observed that social media platforms were not strictly acting against obscene, vulgar, inappropriate, and unlawful content, according to the PTI report.
The ministry said that it had come to its notice that there was a need for greater consistency in due diligence obligations of the intermediaries, particularly in relation to the identifying, reporting and removal of content that would be considered obscene and/or is unlawful.
The IT Rules 2021 mandate that intermediaries shall remove or disable access to any content that is prima facie in the nature of material depicting an individual in any sexual act or conduct, or any impersonation thereof, within 24 hours of receipt of a complaint from the affected individual or any person on such individual’s behalf.
The advisory has asked online platforms to undertake an immediate review of their internal compliance frameworks, content moderation practices and user enforcement mechanisms, and to ensure strict and continuous adherence to the provisions of the IT Act and the IT Rules, 2021.
(With inputs from agencies)
