Draft amendments blur legal boundaries by binding advisories and widening control over user content

The latest draft amendments proposed by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) seek to do two things at once: give legal force to government advisories issued to social media platforms, and expand the regulatory net to user-generated content by effectively recasting users as akin to publishers and news platforms.

Both moves raise concerns that go beyond compliance and point to a stretch in both legislative intent and legal design. At the heart of the proposal is an attempt to make advisories, clarifications, and standard operating procedures binding by linking them to due diligence obligations under the Information Technology Act.