The Centre has cautioned online platforms, particularly social media companies, that failure to act against obscene, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic and other unlawful content could invite legal action.
In an advisory issued on December 29, 2025, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) directed social media firms to immediately review their compliance frameworks and take prompt action against such content on their platforms, warning that non-compliance could lead to prosecution under existing laws.
"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 advisory follows Meity’s observation that several social media platforms have not been strictly enforcing measures against obscene, vulgar, inappropriate and unlawful content.
"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 ministry reminded intermediaries that the Information Technology Act and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, require online platforms to make reasonable efforts to ensure that users do not host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share information that is obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, harmful to children, or otherwise unlawful.
Meity said it has come to its notice that greater consistency and rigour are needed in the observance of due diligence obligations by intermediaries, especially with regard to the identification, reporting and swift removal of content that is obscene, indecent, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic, harmful to children or otherwise unlawful, as mandated under the IT Act and the 2021 Rules.
The IT ministry also directed intermediaries to act expeditiously to remove or disable access to unlawful content upon receiving actual knowledge, either through court orders or reasoned intimation from the appropriate government or its authorised agency, and to comply strictly with the timelines prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021.
"The intermediaries shall not permit the hosting, displaying, uploading, publication, transmission, storage, sharing of any content that is obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, paedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under any law for the time being in force in any manner whatsoever," the advisory said.
Under the IT Rules, 2021, intermediaries are required to remove or disable access to any content that is prima facie material depicting an individual in any sexual act or conduct, or any impersonation thereof, within 24 hours of receiving a complaint from the affected individual or someone acting on their behalf.
The advisory further asked online platforms to conduct 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.