Only DIGs, joint secretaries, senior officials can send take down notices under 79 (3)(b) of IT Act

This replaces the existing procedure of junior officials passing content take down orders.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on October 22 announced that from November 15, only a senior officer at the rank of joint secretary or above, or in case of law enforcement officials at the rank of deputy inspector general of police or above can send take down notices under Section 79 (3)(b) of the IT Act to social media platforms.

This replaces the existing procedure of junior officials passing content take down orders. For example, till now, in State governments, police officers at the rank of sub inspectors and assistant sub inspectors could send take down orders to social media platforms.

These changes have been brought through fresh amendments to Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021. Additionally, the ministry has proposed amendments to the IT Rules for addressing the menace of deepfakes.

In cases where a joint secretary is not appointed, IT ministry said that a director or an officer equivalent in rank can act as an authorising agency for sending take down orders.

Minister for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Ashwini Vaishnaw said, "The change we have brought here we have raised the level of accountability in the government."

If a intermediary fails to comply take down notices sent under Section 79 (3)(b) of the IT Act, the platform can lose its safe harbour provisions -- the provision under IT Act which gives such platforms immunity from content posted by third party.

Additionally, the government has said that these notices or intimation that officers sent to platforms "must clearly specify the legal basis and statutory provision, the nature of the unlawful act, and the specific URL/identifier or other electronic location of the information".

The government has also introduced a periodic review mechanism, where it will be presided by an officer not below the rank of secretary of the appropriate government (for instance Home Secretary or IT secretary in cases of States).

This amendment comes at a time when platforms like X (formerly Twitter) has approached courts over content take down notices sent by the government under Section 79 (3) (b) of the IT Act. A common complaint of such platforms has been that any officer has had the power to send take down notices under this specific provision the Act.