Intermediary Rules and the Content Takedown Process in India

A morphed photo on Instagram, a fake profile on Facebook, a leaked video on Telegram: the first question is always "how do I get it taken down?" The honest answer is that content takedown India-wide runs on three separate tracks. The one you use decides whether it takes a day, a month or never.

This guide explains those tracks. The first is the platform's own duty under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, usually shortened to the IT Rules 2021. The second is a government blocking order under section 69A of the IT Act. The third is a court order. We also cover the appeal body most people have never heard of, which is free and often works.

Why platforms have takedown duties at all

Section 79 of the IT Act gives intermediaries (social networks, messaging apps, hosting providers, marketplaces) immunity from liability for what their users post. That section 79 safe harbour is conditional. The intermediary must observe "due diligence" prescribed by the government. It must also act when it receives actual knowledge of unlawful content through a court order or a government notification.

In Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015), the Supreme Court struck down section 66A and, in the same judgment, read down section 79(3)(b). After that ruling a platform is not required to remove content merely because a private person demands it; "actual knowledge" means a court order or a notification from the appropriate government agency. That is why your email to a platform, on its own, has no legal force.

The IT Rules 2021 change this in a targeted way. They list the due-diligence steps a platform must take to keep its immunity, and among them are specific obligations to act on user complaints within fixed time limits. Fail those, and the platform risks losing section 79 protection for the content concerned.

The content takedown India rules that have deadlines

Three timelines in the Rules matter to a victim. Keep the Rule numbers; quoting them in your complaint gets attention.

The 24-hour removal rule is the one that matters for sextortion, revenge content and deepfakes. It does not require a court order or a police complaint. It requires a complaint from the person depicted, through the platform's grievance mechanism, identifying the content. Our guide to reporting on Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Telegram shows where that mechanism sits on each app.

The Rules were amended in 2022 and 2023, and MeitY has notified further amendments since covering synthetically generated content and labelling. Timelines for specific categories may be tighter than the table above under the latest text; check the current version on the MeitY website before quoting a deadline in a legal notice.

What to put in the complaint

When the grievance officer stalls: the GAC appeal

Every intermediary must appoint a grievance officer and publish their contact details. Significant social media intermediaries, those above the user threshold notified by the government, must also have a resident grievance officer, a chief compliance officer and a nodal contact in India, and must publish monthly compliance reports.

If the grievance officer rejects your complaint or does nothing within 15 days, the 2022 amendment gives you an appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee. There are several committees, each with a chairperson and members appointed by the Union government. You file online through the GAC portal within 30 days of the grievance officer's decision, attach the ticket number and the content URLs, and the committee is expected to dispose of the appeal within 30 days. Its order binds the platform.

Section 69A blocking and court orders

The second track is government blocking. Under section 69A of the IT Act and the Blocking Rules of 2009, the Union government can direct intermediaries to block access to content. The grounds include sovereignty, security, public order and prevention of incitement to a cognisable offence. Requests come through a designated officer and a committee. An individual cannot invoke it directly, though state police and nodal agencies can refer content. It is used for large-scale fraud apps, fake loan apps and coordinated harassment more than for one person's photo.

The third track is a court. A civil suit for defamation or a petition before a High Court can produce an interim order directing specific URLs to be taken down, and platforms generally comply within the 36-hour window. Courts have also issued "dynamic" injunctions that cover re-uploads of the same material. The cost is a lawyer and some weeks; the benefit is an order that covers mirror sites and future copies, which a platform complaint does not.

Whichever track you use, preserve the content first. Take screenshots with the URL visible, the date and time, and the profile details. Save them before the takedown. That is what the police and any later court will need. Our guide to preserving digital evidence explains the section 63 certificate for anything that may be produced in court.

Takedown is not the same as prosecution

Getting content removed does nothing to the person who posted it. For that you need a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in and, for anything serious, an FIR. The sections depend on the content: IT Act section 66E for private images, 67 and 67A for obscene and sexually explicit material, 66C and 66D for impersonation, and BNS section 356 for defamation. The crime-type page on social media hacking and impersonation sets these out, and the sextortion page covers extortion with images.

Platforms are also required under the Rules to preserve removed content and the associated user information for 180 days, longer if a court or agency asks. That preserved data is what lets police identify an anonymous account. Mention in your police complaint that the content has been reported and removed, with the ticket number, so the investigating officer can send the preservation and disclosure request in time.

What to do today

Here is the content takedown India checklist in one line: file the platform grievance under the correct Rule, note the ticket number and the deadline, file on the national portal in parallel, and set a reminder for day 16 to escalate to the Grievance Appellate Committee. If the content is spreading across several platforms, or you need a court order to cover re-uploads, our content removal service handles the grievance filings, GAC appeals and legal notices together. For someone being actively harassed, the National Commission for Women and the 181 helpline can push platforms and police in parallel.