Why in news?

NITI Aayog has sought feedback from major tech companies and start-ups on whether India's current online content blocking requirements and transparency timelines are "feasible."

This is part of a broader deregulation push targeting India's tech laws framework, which falls under the IT Ministry's domain.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• What Has NITI Aayog Asked?
• India's Tightening Content Blocking Regime
• India's Expanding Digital Footprint

What Has NITI Aayog Asked?

• The Aayog has sought industry views on how existing legislation can be simplified. The consultation covers a wide sweep of regulatory issues:
  • Laws affecting social media companies and other online intermediaries
  • Cybersecurity
  • Data protection
  • Online gaming
• In a meeting, where executives of technology industry participated, specific questions were shared with stakeholders, including:
  • Are current takedown, grievance, and transparency timelines operationally feasible across different categories and sizes of intermediaries?
  • Which intermediary due diligence obligations impose the highest recurring compliance burden, and what specific operational simplifications would be most impactful?
• NITI Aayog will review industry responses and send a detailed note to the IT Ministry with its recommendations. However, the IT Ministry retains discretion and may or may not accept the Aayog's suggestions.
• The 'Jan Vishwas Siddhant' Initiative
  • This consultation is part of NITI Aayog's Jan Vishwas Siddhant initiative, an effort to build a trust-based regulatory environment by gathering inputs across sectors on deregulation and rationalisation of existing laws.
  • Experts described the effort as an attempt to clear the system's "regulatory cholesterol."

India's Tightening Content Blocking Regime

• The consultation comes at a time when India has significantly expanded its content blocking activity - content blocking orders rose from over 12,000 in 2024 to over 24,000 in 2025.
• Shortened takedown timelines
  • In February, the IT Ministry notified amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
  • Social media platforms must now remove flagged content within two-three hours, down from the earlier 24–36-hour window.
  • Industry executives have called this the shortest takedown window mandated by any government globally.
  • Meta, which operates Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has called the norms "challenging" to comply with operationally.
• Related Development: Expanding Powers to Issue Blocking Orders
  • Separately, the Centre has been exploring whether to extend content-blocking powers under Section 69(A) of the IT Act, 2000 (currently exercised only by the IT Ministry) to the Ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Defence, and Information and Broadcasting.
  • This proposal is understood to be currently stalled.

India's Expanding Digital Footprint

• India's rapid digitalisation has transformed how citizens interact with the State, access services, and participate in governance.
• Digital platforms now operate at population scale, making data a critical public resource.
• This has made embedding privacy and security into digital systems a central governance priority.
• Scale of India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
  • India's DPI forms the backbone of its digital transformation. Key initiatives include:
    • Aadhaar: A trusted digital identity framework.
    • UPI: Revolutionised real-time digital payments.
    • MyGov: A citizen-participation platform with over 6 crore users.
    • eSanjeevani: Facilitated more than 44 crore digital health consultations, expanding healthcare access.
  • These platforms demonstrate the scale and inclusiveness of India's DPI while underscoring the need for strong data protection to sustain public trust.
• Connectivity and Digital Inclusion at Scale
  • India's digital reach is backed by strong connectivity indicators:
    • India is the world's third-largest digitalised economy.
    • Over 101.7 crore broadband subscribers (as of September 2025), each spending an average of 1,000 minutes online.
    • Mobile data is highly affordable, at $0.10 per GB (2025).
  • This affordable, widespread connectivity has made digital platforms central to identity verification, payments, healthcare, education, grievance redressal, and citizen participation.

Conclusion

NITI Aayog's outreach signals a recalibration of India's tech regulation, weighing tighter content control against ease of compliance for platforms. Whether this results in eased timelines or reaffirms the current strict regime will depend on how the IT Ministry balances industry concerns with its broader push for a stronger digital enforcement architecture.