Social media content, Pg2

Key Highlights:

• The government is considering decentralizing the content blocking process under Section 69(A) of the IT Act.
• Currently, the IT Ministry is the final authority for issuing blocking orders for online content.
• The government aims to bring parity between Section 69(A) and Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act.
• The move comes as the government pushes social media companies to take down content more quickly, reducing blocking timelines to 2-3 hours.

Detailed Insights:

• Section 69(A) empowers the government to restrict public access to information in the interest of sovereignty, security, and public order.
• The current process involves a government agency sending a request to the IT Ministry, which is then examined by a committee before blocking orders are issued.
• Decentralization aims to address bottlenecks at the IT Ministry due to high volumes of requests from various agencies.
• Section 79(3)(b) allows various ministries to directly issue blocking orders to online platforms through the Sahyog portal.
• Concerns have been raised about satirical or critical posts being impacted as companies increase compliance due to regulatory pressure.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Section 69(A) of the IT Act: Empowers the government to restrict online content for reasons such as national security.
• Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act: Empowers ministries to issue blocking orders to online platforms directly.
• Sahyog Portal: A platform led by the Home Ministry through which blocking orders can be issued.