Content takedowns in India are enforced through a plethora of laws and delegated rules. The primary medium for effectuating takedowns occurs under the aegis of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, read with the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009. These provisions are accompanied by Rule 3 and Rule 16 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 which empower the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to take down content under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000. The Central Government can issue blocking orders under Section 37 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023. While the Act has not been enforced yet, it has created a content blocking and takedown procedure parallel to the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009. Content is also blocked under the Copyright Act, 1957.
Social media platforms takedown content regularly, either of their own volition, for violations of their Terms of Service, through reports by users, or on the basis of governmental take down requests. Here, we undertake an exercise to identify the number of take downs effected by social media platforms on the basis of requests made by the Government.
Through this data mapping exercise, we wish to analyse the following metrics:
- To see whether there has been an increase or decrease in the number of content takedowns that platforms have effectuated over the years.
- To see whether the introduction of the IT Rules, 2021 has had a meaningful impact on the number of content takedowns in India
- To see whether the introduction of the Grievance Appellate Committee has had any meaningful impact on the number of content takedowns in India.
We are sourcing this data from the Transparency Reports of the following platforms- Meta, X, Sharechat. Meta releases bi-annual reports whereas X and ShareChat share monthly reports. Meta goes a step further and also provides information about the number of content takedown requests that the Government has made under the IT Rules, 2021. The other 2 platforms provide no such information.
Questions and Observations:
- To see whether there has been an increase or decrease in the number of content takedowns that platforms have effectuated over the years.
General trends show a steady increase in the number of content takedowns over the years. Facebook and Instagram particularly have seen two sharp phases of jumps, in 2019-2020, and 2023-2024. Similarly, X and ShareChat too have seen a general increase in the number of enforcement actions taken. ShareChat, which gives out bans on a range from 1 day to 360 days, has seen the most number of 7 day bans.
- To see whether the introduction of the IT Rules, 2021 has had a meaningful impact on the number of content takedowns in India
One possible inference that can be made is that the introduction of the IT Rules, 2021 had the interesting effect of sharply reducing the number of takedowns reported by Meta, almost 60 times fewer reports were seen. X, which saw exponential increases in the number of takedowns from 2018-2021, also saw a plateauting of takedowns in the first half of 2021.
- To see whether the introduction of the Grievance Appellate Committee has had any meaningful impact on the number of content takedowns in India.
The Data clearly shows that there has been a sharp spike in the number of content that has been actioned in 2023-2024 compared to the years preceding. There has been a manifold increase in both the number of takedowns effectuated on the basis of legal orders, as well as proactively actioned upon by platforms.
X, which provides more granular data on a monthly basis, clearly reveals that February- March 2023 is the month that marks a sharp spike in the total number of accounts suspended by the platform. Similarly, ShareChat too sees an uptick in the number of monthly enforcement actions taken.
One of the possible reasons for this could likely be the operationalization of the three Grievance Appellate Committees on January 28, 2023, which were set up under the IT Rules, 2021. This development demonstrates a clear link in platforms becoming more trigger-happy with taking down content to not fall afoul of the IT Rules, 2021, and to reduce potential legal costs arising out of GAC proceedings. The number of users of social media saw an increase as well, but the same was in line with increases in previous years, and not anomalous.
