Meta flags operational challenges with MeitY’s 3-hour takedown mandate under IT Rules amendments

Rob Sherman, vice president and deputy chief privacy officer at Meta (Image Courtesy: ANI)

• Meta warns 3-hour takedown rule poses operational challenges
• IT Rules now require content removal within three hours
• Industry seeks clarity and flexibility on new compliance timeline

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Meta has raised concerns over the government’s newly notified amendments to the IT Rules that require platforms to remove unlawful content within three hours of receiving a government order, cautioning that such compressed timelines could create operational challenges for intermediaries.

Responding to a question by Moneycontrol on the amendments during a select media roundtable session, Rob Sherman, vice president and deputy chief privacy officer at Meta, said, “The motivation around virality is understandable — harmful content can spread very quickly. But these decisions also require careful assessment.”

“Operationally, three hours is going to be really challenging,” Sherman said in the media roundtable, adding that “philosophically” the company is aligned with the government’s aim behind cutting down the timeline..

Under the notified amendments, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) reduced the deadline for intermediaries to comply with takedown directions under Section 79 of the IT Act from 36 hours to three hours, citing the speed at which deepfakes and misleading content can go viral.

Industry executives said companies are preparing representations to the government seeking clarity on how the rule will be implemented in practice and whether flexibility will be built in for cases involving technical complexity or cross-border content.

“It’s not really about whether companies want to comply. It’s about whether you can actually make a determination in that amount of time,” Sherman said.

He also pointed out that cooperation between governments and platforms works best when expectations are clearly defined.

“We want rules that are workable and predictable, so that platforms can comply while also protecting users’ rights,” he said.

Sherman was pointing towards the fact that the draft IT Rules for synthetically generated information (SGI) did not have the 3-hour requirement.