India's 24-Hour Warning: Social Media Must Delete Non-Consensual Intimate Images
Image Source: Internet
In a bid to combat online harassment, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has introduced Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for social media platforms and online intermediaries. The new guidelines, released on Tuesday, require these platforms to remove non-consensual intimate images within 24 hours of receiving a complaint. The move follows a Madras High Court direction in October, after a woman lawyer's private images were repeatedly shared online without her consent. The court had asked the ministry to create a prototype outlining the steps victims of image-based abuse should take. Drawing from existing laws, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the IT Rules, 2021, the SOPs outline a comprehensive removal process for non-consensual intimate imagery. Social media platforms, content-hosting services, search engines, and domain name registrars must take down flagged content and acknowledge the action to the complainant. Significant social media intermediaries must also deploy technologies to proactively detect and remove reuploads of the same content. To prevent the resurfacing of sensitive material, they are required to share unique digital fingerprints (hashes) with the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre. Search engines must de-index the content from their results, while content delivery networks and domain name registrars must render it inaccessible within 24 hours. Intermediaries must also act on reuploads under new URLs within the same timeframe and keep complainants informed about the takedown status. Experts believe the SOPs consolidate existing obligations rather than creating a new legal regime. To be effective, awareness campaigns are essential to publicize the remedies available to victims. Victims can report non-consensual intimate images through various channels, including intermediaries' grievance officers, the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, One Stop Centres, or local police. If dissatisfied with an intermediary's response, they can appeal to the Grievance Appellate Committee. The SOPs establish coordination between the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Department of Telecommunications, and the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, which will act as the central point for aggregating takedown requests and maintaining the hash bank. The ministry has described the procedures as an 'evolving document' that may be updated over time.
