Date: 2026-03-30Category: Not ApplicableState: Union GovernmentCountry: India
Draft amendments to IT Rules, 2021 relating to strengthening intermediary compliance with clarifications, advisories and directions issued by the Ministry and digital media oversight
**Executive Summary**
The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Second Amendment Rules, 2026, amend the 2021 Rules to strengthen regulatory oversight. Key updates include mandating intermediary compliance with Ministry-issued advisories as part of due diligence obligations and extending the scope of digital media ethics rules to user-uploaded news content. The rules are set to come into force on a specified date in 2026 following their publication in the Gazette of India.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**Information Retention and Preservation**
* Intermediaries must comply with existing statutory requirements for the preservation and retention of information when receiving actual knowledge of illegal content or collecting user registration data.
**Compliance with Ministry Directives**
* Intermediaries are legally required to comply with and implement any clarification, advisory, order, direction, standard operating procedure (SOP), or code of practice issued by the Ministry.
* To be valid, Ministry directives must be issued in writing, specify the legal basis or statutory provision, define the scope and applicability to specific intermediaries, and remain consistent with the IT Act.
* Compliance with these Ministry-issued directives is now formally classified as a "due diligence" obligation under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.
**Expansion of Digital Media Ethics Code**
* The application of rules relating to the oversight and grievance redressal (Rules 14, 15, and 16) is expanded.
* These rules now apply not only to publishers but also to news and current affairs content hosted or shared on intermediary platforms by users who are not professional publishers.
**Grievance Redressal and Committee Functions**
* The Inter-Departmental Committee is authorized to hear matters arising from grievances regarding Code of Ethics violations by publishers, particularly when no decision is reached at Level I or II within the specified timeframe.
* The Committee is further empowered to hear any specific matters referred to it directly by the Ministry.
**Impact Analysis**
**Intermediaries (Social Media Platforms and Computer Resources)**
**Impact**
Intermediaries face stricter due diligence requirements as Ministry advisories and SOPs are now legally binding. Their "Safe Harbor" protection under Section 79 of the IT Act is now contingent upon complying with these directives. They are also now responsible for ensuring user-uploaded news content adheres to specific ethics codes.
**Action Required**
Intermediaries must update their compliance protocols to monitor and implement Ministry-issued guidelines and SOPs. They must also prepare to manage grievances related to news content uploaded by non-publisher users.
**Individual Users (Non-Publishers)**
**Impact**
News and current affairs content uploaded, shared, or modified by individual users on intermediary platforms is now subject to the Digital Media Ethics Code and oversight by the Inter-Departmental Committee.
**Action Required**
Users must ensure that any news or current affairs content they host or share complies with the prescribed Code of Ethics to avoid regulatory action or grievance procedures.
**Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology / Inter-Departmental Committee**
**Impact**
The Ministry gains broader administrative authority to issue binding operational guidelines. The Committee’s jurisdiction is expanded to handle a wider variety of cases, including those involving user-generated news and matters specifically referred by the Ministry.
**Action Required**
The Ministry must ensure all issued clarifications and SOPs are in writing and cite specific legal bases. The Committee must update its periodic meeting schedule to accommodate the broader range of grievances and referred matters.
Key Entities Referenced
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021: The principal regulatory framework governing the obligations of social media intermediaries and digital media publishers being amended by these rules.
Information Technology Act, 2000: The parent legislation that grants the Central Government the power to formulate rules for electronic governance and intermediary liability.
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology: The primary government body responsible for issuing these rules and overseeing the implementation of IT policies in India.
Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000: The legal provision concerning intermediary liability exemptions, which the amendment links to compliance with Ministry-issued advisories and directions.
Code of Ethics: The set of guidelines for digital media publishers and news content mentioned in the rules, oversight of which is expanded under the amendment.
[TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE OF INDIA, EXTRAORDINARY, PART II,
SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (i)]
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the ____th March, 2026
G.S.R. ____(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1), clauses (z) and (zg)
of sub-section (2) of section 87 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000), the Central
Government hereby makes the following rules to further amend the Information Technology
(Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, namely:—
1. Short Title and Commencement.—(1) These rules may be called the Information
Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Second Amendment Rules,
2026.
(2) They shall come into force on the ____ th day of _____, 2026.
2. In the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code)
Rules, 2021 (hereafter referred to as the said rules), in rule 3, in sub-rule (1),⎯
(a) in clause (g), before the words, brackets and letter “where upon receiving actual
knowledge under clause (d)”, the words and punctuation “without prejudice to any
requirement relating to the preservation or retention of information applicable to
intermediaries under the Act or any other law for the time being in force,” shall be
inserted.
(b) in clause (h), before the words “where an intermediary collects information from a
user for registration on the computer resource”, the words and punctuation “without
prejudice to any requirement relating to the preservation or retention of information
applicable to intermediaries under the Act or any other law for the time being in
force,” shall be inserted.
3. In the said rules, in rule 3, after sub-rule (3), the following sub-rules shall be inserted,
namely:—
“(4) Compliance with Clarifications, Advisories and Directions issued by the Ministry:
(a) An intermediary shall comply with and give effect to any clarification, advisory, order,
direction, standard operating procedure, code of practice or guideline issued by the Ministry,
by order in writing, in relation to the implementation, interpretation or operationalisation of
the requirements prescribed under this Part;
(b) every such clarification, advisory, order, direction, standard operating procedure, code
of practice or guideline referred to in clause (a) shall—
(i) be issued in writing;
(ii) clearly specify the statutory provision or legal basis under which it is
issued;(iii) specify the scope, applicability and compliance requirements in respect
of the intermediary or class of intermediaries to whom it applies; and
(iv) be consistent with the provisions of the Act and these rules;
(c) compliance with any clarification, advisory, order, direction, standard operating
procedure, code of practice or guideline issued under clause (a) shall form part of the due
diligence obligations of the intermediary under section 79 of the Act.”.
4. In the said rules, in rule 8, in sub-rule (1), for the proviso, the following proviso shall be
substituted, namely:—
“Provided that for the purposes of rules 14, 15 and 16, the rules made under
this Part shall apply to—
(a) intermediaries; and
(b) news and current affairs content hosted, displayed, uploaded, modified,
published, transmitted, stored, updated or shared on the computer resources
of the intermediaries by users who are not publishers.”.
5. In the said rules, in rule 14,—
(a) for sub-rule (2), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:—
“(2) The Committee shall meet periodically and hear the matters—
(a) arising out of the grievances relating to violation of the Code of
Ethics by the publishers, in respect of the decisions taken at the
Level I or II, including the cases where no such decision is taken
within the time specified in the grievance redressal mechanism;
or
(b) referred to it by the Ministry.”.
(b) in sub-rule (5), for the words and punctuations “complaints or grievances, and
may either accept or allow such complaint or grievance, and make the following
recommendations to the Ministry,”, the words and punctuation “the matter and
make the following recommendations to the Ministry,” shall be substituted.
[F. No. 2(5)/2025-CyberLaws]
AJIT KUMAR, Joint Secretary
Note: The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3,
Sub-section (i), vide notification number G.S.R. 139(E), dated the 25th February, 2021 and
subsequently amended vide notification number G.S.R. 794(E), dated the 28th October, 2022; G.S.R.
275(E), dated the 6th April, 2023; G.S.R. 775(E), dated the 22nd October, 2025; and G.S.R. 120(E),
dated the 10th February, 2026.