Chicago – February 11, 2026
India’s government said social media companies would have to take down unlawful content within three hours of being notified about it, tightening on Tuesday an earlier 36-hour timeline in what could be a compliance challenge for Meta, YouTube and X.
The changes amend India’s 2021 IT rules, which have already been a flashpoint between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and global technology companies.
The new regulations will take effect from February 20.
The move reinforces India’s position as one of the world’s most aggressive regulators of online content, requiring platforms to balance compliance in a market of 1 billion internet users against mounting concerns over government censorship.
The government directive did not give any reason for the change in the timeline for takedowns.
“It’s practically impossible for social media firms to remove content in three hours,” said Akash Karmakar, a partner at Indian law firm Panag & Babu who specialises in technology law. “This assumes no application of mind or real world ability to resist compliance.”
