India proposes making government advisories legally binding on tech giants

BENGALURU, March 30 (Reuters) – India on Monday ​proposed changes to its IT law to ‌make advisories and clarifications legally binding on internet platforms such as Meta (META.O), opens new tab, Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab and X, the latest in ​a string of stricter compliance requirements for ​tech giants.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government this ⁠year compressed the timeline for platforms to take ​down content flagged by authorities to three hours, from ​36 hours previously, and has imposed new obligations around AI-generated content and deepfakes.

Currently, the IT ministry’s advisories to ​platforms – on issues ranging from deepfake labelling to ​content takedown practices – have functioned as guidance without explicit legal ‌consequences.

In ⁠new proposed rules on Monday, the government said non-compliance with advisories or guidelines issued by the IT ministry would be treated as a ​failure to meet ​the conditions ⁠for safe harbour – the legal shield that protects platforms from liability ​for content posted by their users.

The changes ​were ⁠being proposed to “strengthen enforceability” of directions and “improve legal certainty”, the ministry said in a notice inviting ⁠public ​feedback by April 14.