The Indian Ministry of Defence has authorized the armed forces to manage illegal military-related content on social media platforms directly.
According to reports from Indian media, this change is designed to enable quicker action against content considered unlawful by the military.
To support this initiative, the Ministry has designated a senior officer from the Additional Directorate General of Strategic Communication as the nodal officer. The officer is empowered to send notices to social media platforms under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, demanding the removal of specific content concerning the Indian Army.
Previously, the process required the Indian Army to coordinate with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to handle such content removal, which often resulted in delays.
A military source highlighted that this new measure facilitates more rapid responses to misinformation, especially those emanating from sources perceived as hostile. “This notification allows the ADG (strategic communication) to directly pinpoint and address unlawful content, issuing notices to the relevant platforms,” the source added.
This streamlined approach aims to more effectively protect national security and uphold the army’s reputation by allowing the military to directly engage with social media companies, thus speeding up the response to potential threats.
Under the current regulations of Section 79 of the IT Act, social media platforms can generally shield themselves from liability for third-party content. However, this immunity can be withdrawn if they do not respond adequately to governmental notices.
Despite the armed forces’ newfound authority to issue takedown requests, no such actions have been reported since the policy was implemented on October 24.
Legal analysts have expressed concerns about the clarity of Section 79(3)(b), arguing that it leaves room for ambiguity regarding the authority to direct content removal and the rationale behind such decisions.
