Remove hoax bomb threats, report users behind them: IT Ministry to social media companies

In the aftermath of a spate of hoax bomb threats made to Indian airliners over the last two weeks, primarily via anonymous social media accounts, the IT ministry has asked social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, and X to promptly block access to such content, reminding them that a failure to do so could lead to them losing legal immunity from hosting third-party content.

In an advisory issued to social media companies on Friday, the ministry noted, “social media intermediaries must make reasonable efforts to disallow such malicious acts including hoax bomb threats from being disseminated on their platforms”.