The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology faced questions from civil society on Tuesday (April 7, 2026), after proposing a rule change that would give the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting greater powers to treat individual social media users like regulated news publishers. In two back-to-back meetings on Tuesday afternoon, IT Secretary S. Krishnan heard from civil society and industry groups representing social media firms, with the former expressing concerns on growing censorship of viral anti-establishment content on social media.
At a 1 p.m. meeting with the Ministry, social media firms and other online firms asked for more time to send in comments on the draft amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The firms’ representatives, however, did not mention the surge in high-profile censorship of their users, two attendees at the meeting told The Hindu.
Centre eyes new regulation to cover social media users
During the meeting that followed, with certain civil society representatives, lawyers and think tank representatives, the references to censorship grew. The Internet Freedom Foundation, a Delhi-based digital rights advocacy, said in the meeting that the draft amendment, which would also make it mandatory for social media platforms to follow “advisories” issued by the IT Ministry, should be withdrawn and that it was “illegal,” the organisation said in a statement after the exchange.
