The government has introduced new safeguards governing how online content can be blocked or taken down, tightening procedures under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has notified amendments to ensure that only senior officers are authorised to issue blocking orders, following growing concerns over arbitrary and opaque enforcement.

Under the amended rules, only officers of the rank of Joint Secretary or above in the government can issue blocking orders under Section 79. For police agencies, the authority has been limited to officers of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) level or higher.

The move comes after reports that even officers at the Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) level had begun issuing takedown notices to inte

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