New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Monday (March 30) published proposed amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which include expanding the Union government’s control over online content, particularly news and current affairs, by bringing its oversight mechanism onto intermediaries as well as users who are not “publishers” but post or share news and current affairs content online.The draft rules have been termed as “digital authoritarianism” by digital rights activists including the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), which has expressed concern over the continuing expansion of executive control over free speech.The draft rules released on Monday, titled the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Second Amendment Rules, 2026 seek stakeholder feedback by April 14. The rules come on the heels of a slew of takedown orders issued to social media platforms including X and Meta, from where content and handles critical of the Narendra Modi government have been taken down in recent weeks.The draft rules provide for an amendment under Rule 8(1), through which Rules 14 (which calls for an Inter-Departmental Committee), 15 (lays down procedures and directions to block content) and 16 (emergency blocking provisions), shall apply to “a) intermediaries; and (b) news and current affairs content hosted, displayed, uploaded, modified, published, transmitted, stored, updated or shared on the computer resources of the intermediaries by users who are not publishers”.The draft rules also provide for amendments to Rule 3(1)(g) and 3(1)(h) which make data retention obligatory along with such requirements under any other law. It also provides that an intermediary shall comply with and give effect to a clarification, advisory, order, direction, standard operating procedure, code of practice or guideline given in writing.The draft also proposes an amendment to Rule 14 (2) and expands the scope of inter-departmental committees from hearing “complaints or grievances” to hearing “matters”, including those referred to by MeitY. In a statement, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) said that while the draft rules have been “presented as ‘clarificatory and procedural’, they represent a dangerous expansion of executive power over online speech”.Sound the Alarm: IFF’s First Read on MeitY’s Draft IT Rules Second Amendment, 2026New Delhi, 30 March 2026On 30 March 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology published proposed amendments to the IT Rules, 2021, inviting public comments by 14 April, a… pic.twitter.com/NqT9dL4ppX— Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) (@internetfreedom) March 30, 2026“The expansion of Rule 8(1) to cover Rules 14, 15, and 16 is an attempt to expand the blocking powers of MIB to both intermediaries and users who are not “publishers” but post news and current affairs content online,” the IFF said.“The IDC can now examine ‘matters’ relating to user-generated news content on intermediary platforms without the Code of Ethics framework having been adjudicated as constitutional; the government effectively obtains the content oversight machinery that three High Courts found problematic, through a different procedural door.”The IFF also said that the mandatory retention of user data for long periods raises risks of surveillance and potentially even data leaks of sensitive data.“We are deeply distressed by the continuing expansion of unchecked executive power that is opposed to the Constitution of India. The present actions of MeitY smack of digital authoritarianism and we call on them to withdraw these proposed amendments,” it said.“The proper course is to await judicial determination of the pending challenges, respect interim protections granted by constitutional courts, and pursue regulatory objectives through parliamentary legislation rather than subordinate instruments that exceed the parent statute.”