India Tightens Social Media Takedown Timeline to Three Hours

India has amended its IT rules, requiring social media companies to remove unlawful content within three hours of notification. This poses a compliance challenge for tech giants like Meta, YouTube, and X. The new regulations, effective from February 20, have sparked controversy among digital rights advocates.

On Tuesday, India's government announced a significant change to its IT regulations, requiring social media giants to remove unlawful content within a mere three hours of notification. This sharpens an earlier 36-hour deadline and could present a considerable compliance hurdle for platforms like Meta, YouTube, and X.

The modified rules come as an update to the 2021 IT guidelines, which were initially a point of contention between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and global tech firms. While a proposal to label AI-generated content more prominently was relaxed, the new rules, effective from February 20, will still enforce heightened content monitoring.

These changes are part of India's broader effort to control online speech, eliciting criticism from digital rights groups and sparking disputes with companies such as Elon Musk's X. The revisions add to a growing global mandate for social media platforms to enhance their content policing, in line with global demands for swifter takedowns and increased accountability.