Indian government explores limiting liability protections for social media platforms
India is considering amending the IT Act to hold social media platforms accountable for algorithmic content curation, potentially narrowing current safe harbour protections.
The Indian government is reportedly evaluating a plan to restrict 'safe harbour' protections under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which currently shields social media intermediaries from liability for third-party content. According to reports cited by Medianama, the move would specifically target platforms that utilize algorithms to rank, promote, or suppress content.
Government officials have argued that by employing algorithms to curate user feeds, platforms move beyond the role of a neutral pipeline and exert editorial control, necessitating a re-evaluation of their immunity. Peer-to-peer messaging services that do not intervene in message delivery may be exempt from the proposed changes, which remain in the preliminary consultation phase.
Separately, the government is considering a direct takedown mechanism for deepfakes and non-consensual imagery, allowing users to bypass traditional legal avenues to request removal. Analysts express concern that removing safe harbour for algorithmic decisions could incentivize platforms to engage in preemptive censorship, potentially silencing critical journalism or political discourse to avoid the legal liability associated with controversial user-generated content.