Central Government has issued amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The amendments modify provisions under rule 3 relating to due diligence by intermediaries, insert additional sub-rules regarding compliance with directions issued by the Ministry, amend applicability under rule 8, and revise provisions relating to the Inter-Departmental Committee under rule 14.

Amendments have been made in rule 3(1)(g) and 3(1)(h) by inserting additional wording before specified phrases relating to preservation or retention of information applicable to intermediaries under the Act or any other law.

In rule 3(3)(a)(ii), the requirement relating to visibility of labels in content has been modified by substituting the earlier wording with a requirement for continuous and clearly visible display throughout the duration of the content in a visual display.

New sub-rule (4) has been inserted in rule 3, prescribing requirements for intermediaries to comply with clarifications, advisories, orders, directions, standard operating procedures, codes of practice, or guidelines issued by the Ministry in writing. Conditions relating to issuance, including specification of legal basis, scope, applicability, and consistency with the Act and rules, have been provided. Compliance with such instruments has been included as part of due diligence obligations under section 79 of the Act.

In rule 8(1), the proviso has been substituted to specify applicability of rules 14, 15, and 16 to intermediaries and to news and current affairs content hosted or transmitted on intermediary platforms by users who are not publishers.

In rule 14, sub-rule (2) has been substituted to provide for periodic meetings of the Committee to hear matters arising from grievances relating to violation of the Code of Ethics or matters referred by the Ministry.

Further, in rule 14(5), wording has been modified by replacing references to “complaints or grievances” with “the matter” in relation to recommendations made to the Ministry.

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.

1. 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.

1. In the said rules, in rule 3, in sub-rule (3), in clause (a), in sub-clause (ii), for the words, “that ensures prominent visibility in the visual display”, the words and punctuation “that ensures continuous and clearly visible display of such label throughout the duration of the content, in a visual display” shall be substituted.
2. 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.”.

1. 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.”.

1. 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.