As India prepares to implement new safeguards governing online content takedowns from November 15, legal experts and policy analysts have welcomed the government’s move to restrict takedown powers to senior officials.

However, they caution that the changes under Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act still lack transparency and effective oversight.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recently amended the IT rules to ensure that only senior bureaucrats — such as Joint Secretaries and Deputy Inspector Generals (DIGs) — can issue takedown or blocking orders. The move follows criticism from digital platforms and civil society groups about arbitrary and opaque enforcement of online censorship.

Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya said the government’s decisi

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