Media Nama: New Delhi: Tuesday, 24 March 2026.
MediaNama has filed a Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 application with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to ask if it consulted anyone before introducing the three-hour content takedown rule under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules (IT Amendment Rules), 2026.
The IT Amendment Rules
were officially notified on February 10, 2026, and require platforms such as
YouTube, Meta, and X to take down flagged content within three hours of
receiving a government notice, a significant reduction from the previous
36-hour window. MediaNama has covered the rules here, here, and here.
Multiple industry associations representing some of the largest technology companies in the world criticised the provision and called for public and stakeholder consultation on the amendments, particularly the shortened takedown timeline. At a closed-door meeting on February 25, 2026, IT Secretary S. Krishnan informed companies that there would be no extensions or exemptions from complying with the rules.
What is the problem with how this rule was made: MeitY did not include the three-hour content takedown provision in the draft IT Amendment Rules released on October 22, 2025. MeitY added the three-hour timeline later, in the final notified rules, without any separate consultation process.
This raises a direct question: did MeitY consult anyone before adding this provision?
What we asked: MediaNama filed an RTI Act application with the Central Public Information Officer of MeitY, asking:
Was any public, inter-ministerial, or industry consultation conducted specifically on the three-hour takedown provision before MeitY notified the IT Amendment Rules on February 10, 2026?
If MeitY conducted any such consultation, copies of all related communications.
Whether MeitY consulted the Ministry of Law and Justice (MoLJ) on the legality of this provision.
Why this matters: The three-hour takedown rule applies to all intermediaries in India and directly affects content moderation, intermediary liability, and free expression. Notably, MeitY’s draft rules released in October 2025 did not include this provision, so it did not undergo public consultation at that time. It is not publicly known whether MeitY consulted anyone before adding the rule to the final version, which was notified after October 2025. MeitY’s response to this RTI will put that on record.
MediaNama has filed a Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 application with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to ask if it consulted anyone before introducing the three-hour content takedown rule under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules (IT Amendment Rules), 2026.
Multiple industry associations representing some of the largest technology companies in the world criticised the provision and called for public and stakeholder consultation on the amendments, particularly the shortened takedown timeline. At a closed-door meeting on February 25, 2026, IT Secretary S. Krishnan informed companies that there would be no extensions or exemptions from complying with the rules.
What is the problem with how this rule was made: MeitY did not include the three-hour content takedown provision in the draft IT Amendment Rules released on October 22, 2025. MeitY added the three-hour timeline later, in the final notified rules, without any separate consultation process.
This raises a direct question: did MeitY consult anyone before adding this provision?
What we asked: MediaNama filed an RTI Act application with the Central Public Information Officer of MeitY, asking:
Was any public, inter-ministerial, or industry consultation conducted specifically on the three-hour takedown provision before MeitY notified the IT Amendment Rules on February 10, 2026?
If MeitY conducted any such consultation, copies of all related communications.
Whether MeitY consulted the Ministry of Law and Justice (MoLJ) on the legality of this provision.
Why this matters: The three-hour takedown rule applies to all intermediaries in India and directly affects content moderation, intermediary liability, and free expression. Notably, MeitY’s draft rules released in October 2025 did not include this provision, so it did not undergo public consultation at that time. It is not publicly known whether MeitY consulted anyone before adding the rule to the final version, which was notified after October 2025. MeitY’s response to this RTI will put that on record.
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