India Weighs Expanding Content Takedown Powers Across Ministries

India is weighing a proposal to allow senior officials in key ministries to directly issue content takedown orders, potentially expanding powers currently held by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), The Economic Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Under the plan, secretaries in ministries including home affairs, defense, external affairs and information and broadcasting could be designated as nodal officers through a gazette notification, enabling them to act under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act without requiring changes to existing law.

At present, MeitY holds final authority over blocking orders, with requests from ministries routed through an examination process before approval.

The proposed shift would decentralize that power, allowing multiple ministries to issue directions directly to social media platforms.

The move builds on provisions in the 2009 blocking rules, which already permit ministries and state agencies to initiate takedown requests, while reserving final decisions for MeitY.

Officials said the change could streamline responses, particularly in urgent cases where content is blocked without a full hearing, though it would also broaden the government’s operational control over online content.