India tightens regulatory grip on social media companies

Big Tech firms will be obliged to remove content within 36 hours of receiving a legal order, according to new rules.

India has announced new rules to regulate content on social media, making Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and others more accountable to legal requests for the swift removal of posts and sharing information on where the messages originated from. The rules – part of an effort by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to put Big Tech on a shorter leash – come after Twitter recently ignored government orders to drop content related to the farmers’ protests. India has the largest market by users for Facebook and its messenger service WhatsApp.