Understanding The 2025 Amendment To India's Intermediaries Rules

Introduction

On October 22, 2025, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ("MeitY") notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2025 ("2025 Amendment"), amending Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ("2021 IT Rules"). Rule 3(1)(d) sets out the procedure by which government authorities can require "intermediaries" — online platforms that host, transmit or store third-party information, such as social media companies, messaging services, and search engines — to remove or disable access to unlawful content. The 2025 Amendment, effective November 15 2025, seeks to strengthen these due diligence obligations under the Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act") by introducing additional safeguards to make content removal decisions more transparent, proportionate and accountable.