The Ministry of Defence has appointed a senior army officer, the Additional Directorate General (ADG) of Strategic Communication, as the “nodal officer.” This officer is authorised to issue notices, including takedown requests, to social media platforms regarding any illegal content related to the Indian Army and its units. This action falls under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act.

Before this notification, the Indian Army depended on the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to remove or block illegal content related to the army, according to a source within the army. “Through this notification, the ADG (strategic communication) will be able to highlight cases and issue notices directly to intermediaries when we find unlawful content related to the Indian army. Then it is up to the intermediaries to assess what to do with that content,” the person stated, requesting anonymity.

The speaker emphasised that the impact of a lot of such stuff is instantaneous and that using MeitY takes a lot longer. “For example, if there is a Pakistan-run handle which is proliferating misinformation or disinformation, we should be in a position to issue notices directly to the intermediaries.” For concerns about national security and the army's image, there is now a direct way to report these issues to companies, according to the person.

Section 79 of the IT Act outlines the requirements that an intermediary must meet to be protected from liability for content posted by third parties. However, Section 79(3)(b) states that this protection will not apply if the intermediary does not remove or block access to the content after being notified by the relevant government or its agency. HT was unable to determine the exact number of blocking orders or takedown notices issued to social media companies or other platforms to remove content related to the Indian army. However, it has been found that no new notices have been sent since the notification on October 24.

Based on suggestions from the Defence Ministry, Intelligence Bureau, and Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered The Caravan, a news magazine based in Delhi, to remove an article about claims of torture, murder, and abuse of civilians by the Indian army in Jammu under the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The magazine has since appealed this order in court.

On February 4, the Hindustan Times reported that legal experts believe Section 79(3)(b) has created confusion about who has the authority to ask intermediaries to remove content, the reasons for doing so, and whether these requests can be contested. “Section 79(3)(b) erects a blocking process separate from Section 69A with a much lower threshold for issuing takedown notices and grants power to a much larger swathe of ministries, departments and law enforcement agencies,” Pavit Singh Katoch, general counsel at Inshorts, had told Hindustan Times in February.