Centre warns social media firms of legal action over unlawful content

Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw has said social media platforms must take responsibility for the content they publish, noting that a Parliamentary Standing Committee has already recommended a tough law to fix platform accountability.

“Social media should be responsible for the content they publish. Intervention is required,” Vaishnaw said on the sidelines of a Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) event, responding to a question on AI app Grok generating indecent and vulgar images of women.

Earlier this week, the Centre warned online platforms, particularly social media firms, of legal consequences if they fail to act against obscene, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic and other unlawful content. Vaishnaw said the standing committee had recommended that there is a need to come up with a “tough law” to make social media accountable for content they publish.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has called for greater accountability of social media and intermediary platforms in relation to fake content and news. Its recommendations include enforcing algorithmic transparency, imposing stricter fines and penalties for repeat offenders, setting up an independent regulatory body, and using technological tools such as AI to curb misinformation.

On December 29, MeitY issued an advisory asking social media firms to immediately review their compliance framework and take action against obscene and unlawful content, warning that failure to comply could lead to prosecution. The advisory followed MeitY’s observation that platforms were not acting strictly against obscene, vulgar and inappropriate content.

Public policy firm IGAP Partner Dhruv Garg said the advisory does not introduce new legal obligations but reiterates that safe harbour protection hinges on strict adherence to due diligence requirements under the IT Rules, 2021. “Significant social media intermediaries are subject to stricter due diligence benchmarks. They must also deploy automated content moderation tools… Platforms must actively fulfil their legal responsibilities or they may face criminal prosecution,” he said.

Luthra and Luthra Law Offices India Senior Partner Sanjeev Kumar said the advisory makes clear that non-compliance may result in prosecution under the IT Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and other criminal laws, and could lead to loss of safe harbour protection under Section 79. “The cumulative impact of these provisions heightens legal, financial, and reputational risk,” he said.

Notice to X

Meanwhile, the government on Friday issued a stern notice to Elon Musk-owned social media platform X, directing it to immediately remove vulgar, obscene and unlawful content, particularly content generated using the AI app Grok. MeitY issued the notice to the platform’s Chief Compliance Officer for India for failure to meet statutory due diligence obligations under the IT Act, 2000 and the IT Rules, 2021.

“…X is hereby directed to… remove or disable access, without delay, to all content already generated or disseminated in violation of applicable laws,” the January 2 order said, adding that evidence must not be tampered with. The ministry also directed X to take action against offending content, users and accounts, and submit an action taken report within 72 hours.

The order said the government has received representations that certain content circulating on X may not comply with laws relating to decency and obscenity. It noted that “Grok AI” is being misused to create and share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory manner. “Such conduct reflects a serious failure of platform-level safeguards and enforcement mechanisms,” the order said.

MeitY has also directed X to undertake a comprehensive technical, procedural and governance review of Grok to ensure it does not generate or facilitate unlawful content, warning that non-compliance may invite strict legal action under the IT Act, IT Rules, BNSS, BNS and other applicable laws.

Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote to Vaishnaw seeking urgent intervention over increasing misuse of the Grok AI app to create and circulate vulgar images of women on social media.