IT Act

The government has slashed the online content takedown time for sensitive matters to 2 hours from the earlier 24 hours given to social media platforms, an official statement said on Thursday. According to the statement, amendments were made on February 10, 2026, in the IT Rules 2021 to strengthen the regulatory framework to address harms arising from synthetically generated information (SGI), including deepfakes and AI-generated content. "Strengthening of timelines for compliance, including reduced timelines for removal of unlawful information upon actual knowledge upon valid reasoned intimation from the Appropriate Government or court orders (timeline reduced from 36 hours to 3 hours) and for grievance redressal (including special categories such as nudity/impersonation etc) (timeline reduced from 72 hours to 36 hours and 24 hours to 2 hours for sensitive matters, respectively)," the statement said. IT Rules mandates the significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs), platforms wi

The administration plans to table the Income Tax Amendment Bill in the lower house of Parliament as early as next week to replace the ordinance notified early June

Experts say online posts cannot be removed merely for criticising the government, with takedown powers limited by constitutional safeguards and statutory provisions

The government will soon begin stakeholder consultations on a dedicated legal framework for artificial intelligence as evolving AI capabilities require a separate regulatory regime, IT Secretary

The Income-tax Rules, 2026, mark a major clean-up of the compliance framework

Takedown and blocking powers are already provided for under the existing provisions, and the proposed amendments to the IT rules are not linked to content takedown actions, MeitY Secretary S Krishnan said on Tuesday. He said the proposed amendments do not give the government wider powers nor expand those, and are "merely clarificatory in nature". Fielding a question on the significant rise in blocking action seen over the last three-four months, Krishnan attributed the increase to synthetically-generated content. "There has been a sudden explosion across the board.... This is not to do with any one political party.... So, a sudden explosion of so-called 'deepfakes' has meant that further action has been taken," he said at a media briefing. To a question on whether there will be a provision for giving specific reasons behind recent takedowns of certain posts, Krishnan asserted that "these changes (IT rule amendments) have nothing to do with what are the takedowns...." Takedowns hap

Extension may allow industry, civil society and individuals more time to respond to proposed changes bringing independent news and current affairs creators under regulatory oversight

The new income tax law and other budgetary provisions, including higher Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on F&O trade and lower TCS on overseas tour packages and LRS remittances for medical and education purposes, will come into effect from April 1. Also, the Budget announcement of a 20-year tax holiday up to 2047 to any foreign company that procures data centre services in India, and new safe harbour provisions with a higher threshold for software companies will come into effect from Wednesday, with the beginning of the 2026-27 fiscal. The Income-tax Act, 2025, will replace the Income-tax Act, 1961, with effect from April 1, 2026. The new Act aims to present the same tax policy in a more logical, accessible, and reader-friendly format. The Income Tax department has said that its e-filing portal will facilitate compliance under both the old and new Income Tax Acts in the transition period, and all assessments, appeals, and other proceedings relating to earlier years will continue .

The government is considering reducing the content takedown timeline to one hour from three, subject to stakeholder consultations and implementation feedback from intermediaries

Government may amend Section 69(A) of the IT Act to empower key ministries to issue emergency content takedown orders, expanding powers beyond MeitY

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine the Centre's plea challenging a Bombay High Court verdict that struck down amendments to Information Technology Rules aimed at regulating fake and false content posted on social media against the government. The top court did not stay the 2024 High Court verdict, which struck down the amended Information Technology Rules and termed them "unconstitutional", even as a three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to the original petitioners, including stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India, and the Association of Indian Magazines. The High Court struck down the rules amended in 2023 to empower the central government to establish a Fact-Check Unit (FCU) to identify "fake, false, or misleading" information regarding "government business" on social media. If the FCU flagged content under those rules, social media intermediaries such as X, Facebook, or ...

Petition questions Section 247 of Income Tax Act, 2025, saying expanded powers to access digital devices and virtual space violate privacy and lack safeguards

The Grok controversy shows how fast-moving AI is outpacing laws, forcing governments to rethink how to curb explicit content without undermining free speech

Das said he shared stakeholders' concerns regarding the complexity of the existing audit report forms filed by trusts

The Karnataka HC dismissed X's plea against the Sahyog portal, calling it a public-good mechanism, noting that social media cannot be left in unregulated

When the new law was introduced in Parliament on February 13, the government also set up a committee to draft the accompanying rules and forms

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting blocks 25 OTT platforms, including Ullu and ALTT, for hosting inappropriate content despite prior warnings

X Corp argues before the Karnataka High Court that arbitrary content blocking under Section 79 of the IT Act by government officers violates constitutional safeguards

While denying interim relief to X, Justice M Nagaprasanna noted that liberty had already been given to X to approach the court if it faced coercive action, on March 17

Deductions related to salary, including standard deduction and leave encashment, are now grouped under a single clause