India proposes making government advisories legally binding on tech giants


A 3D printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen in front of displayed Google logo in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

(Story refiles to ⁠fix day in first paragraph to Monday from ⁠Tuesday)

BENGALURU, March 30 (Reuters) - India on Monday proposed ‌changes to its IT law to make advisories and clarifications legally binding on internet platforms such as Meta, Google and X, ​the latest in a string of ⁠stricter compliance requirements ⁠for tech giants.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government this year ⁠compressed the ‌timeline for platforms to take down content flagged by authorities to three hours, ⁠from 36 hours previously, and has imposed new ​obligations around ‌AI-generated content and deepfakes.

Currently, the IT ministry's advisories ⁠to platforms - ​on issues ranging from deepfake labelling to content takedown practices - have functioned as guidance without explicit legal consequences.

In ⁠new proposed rules on Monday, ​the government said non-compliance with advisories or guidelines issued by the IT ministry would be treated as a ⁠failure to meet the conditions for safe harbour - the legal shield that protects platforms from liability for content posted by their users.

The changes were being proposed ​to "strengthen enforceability" of directions and "improve ⁠legal certainty", the ministry said in a notice inviting ​public feedback by April 14.

Meta, ‌Google and X did not ​immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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