Two months after the Meta fiasco, Meity Advisory says public order is at risk | Today’s news

New Delhi: India has asked social media companies to keep a close eye on misleading and manipulated content online as the government steps up efforts to prevent material that could disturb public order.

In an advisory issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) urged platforms to exercise “heightened care” when dealing with content that is false, altered or shared without proper context. The ministry said such posts could mislead people, create confusion and contribute to law and order concerns.

“Certain information, including false, misleading, manipulated or ripped-off content, is disseminated through various social media platforms in connection with ongoing public events and developments. Such content, especially when presented as current or authentic information, has the potential to cause public confusion, create apprehension, disturb public order and social tranquility, and contribute to law and order concerns.”

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The advisory specifically pointed to old photos and videos being recirculated as current events, AI-generated content, impersonation of public officials, and material that could incite violence. Meity did not say what led to the recommendation.

The move comes amid public unrest in the state capital, with protests calling for the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and about two months after a public spat between the government and the Met over the temporary removal of a video featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While legal experts said the guidance does not create new duties, many in the industry see it as another sign of the government’s growing control over social media platforms.

Interestingly, this recommendation comes at a time of widespread public protests in the capital demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, although it has not been directly attributed or acknowledged Meity’s Counseling Office.

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The advice comes amid wider regulatory pressure

An official in the know informed about it Mintrequesting anonymity that Meita’s notice on Thursday “is a continuation of India’s efforts to suppress the state of compliance with the Indian IT Act, 2000, Intermediary Rules, 2021 and all other amendments”. An email from Mint seeking clarification on the advisory did not receive an immediate response from Meity.

The recommendation comes after Meity published proposals for changes to the 2021 brokerage rules on March 30, part of which said any advice from the ministry would now be considered mandatory for compliance. While the amendment faced rejection for its proposal to hold publishers responsible for independent individuals on social media platforms, it has not yet been announced — meaning Thursday’s recommendation remained a statutory notice from the department, not binding law.

However, India saw a sustained standoff between the Meta and Delhi platforms in early August when Facebook pulled a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for four hours in late July, leading to calls for an apology from the Met chief. Mark Zuckerberg. The debacle led to a visit to India by Met’s head of global affairs, Joel Kaplan, and a series of announcements by Meity about child sexual abuse material.

In the note, legal and policy advisers reiterated that Thursday’s advisory emphasized that the primary law governing compliance remains India’s IT Act, 2000 and does not constitute a separate notice to all intermediaries in India.

“This is not limited to synthetically generated information (AI content) but extends to a broader set of content under IT rules,” said Dhruv Garg, partner at policy think tank, India Governance and Policy Project. Garg further added that the recommendation is a “broad reiteration of what already exists in the Intermediary Guidelines, 2021 and its amendments”.

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“Some phrases such as ‘early co-operation’ and ‘priority’ are used, which may not themselves be contained in the IT Rules, 2021. However, the duty of intermediaries that is relevant to enforcement is the notified text in the enacted law and the rules that flow from it, ie pre-existing laws, and not Thursday’s advice,” he said.