An article claims that Meta has automated content blocking to comply with the government's three-hour takedown requirement, and that content blocks surged during the #Delhiprotests.
#PIBFactCheck:
❌ The article is #Misleading.
✅ To expedite action against unlawful content, the takedown time was reduced to 3 hours from earlier 36 hours by an amendment in February 2026 to the IT Intermediaries Rules 2021.
✅ The API integration with Meta took place in 2025 at the request of Meta.
✅ With 600 million users in India posting up to 78,703 items every 68 seconds, it is reasonable to expect that on average, one of these items may not be lawful. The State and its instrumentalities cannot abdicate their responsibilities and allow free rein to lawlessness in cyberspace.
✅ During the period from March 2026 to July 2026, around 2.98 Lakh URLs were sent for takedown, out of which 2.44 lakhs were sent by states (82%).
✅ Of these, 51 thousand URLs were sent by I4C in context of cyber, infrastructure, and stock-investment scams
✅ In the last 2 years, majority of the unlawful content intimated by I4C were related to transnational financial frauds, CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) and offences related to women & children.
✅ IT Intermediaries act on Intimations issued by competent authorities. Only authorized officers as notified by the concerned ministry or state government can send intimations for unlawful content takedown through Sahyog. All such intimations are reviewed by the concerned governments periodically.
✅ Sahyog Portal enables States / Central Ministries to intimate unlawful content to IT Intermediaries.
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