Jaipur, March 19 (NationPress) On Thursday, the Central government presented a comprehensive and factual response to concerns raised by Rajya Sabha MP Madan Rathore during Zero Hour on December 12, 2025, regarding the urgent need for regulations to combat the proliferation of obscene and harmful "reels" on social media platforms.

In his response, Jitin Prasada, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Commerce and Industry, reiterated that India's current legal framework, which includes the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, is both robust and sufficiently equipped to handle the misuse of social media.

He underscored the government's commitment to fostering a safe, accountable, and lawful digital environment, while continuously taking decisive measures to address emerging cyber threats.

Rathore highlighted critical provisions, stating that the IT Act, 2000, incorporates stringent penalties for cybercrimes such as identity theft, impersonation fraud, privacy violations, distribution of obscene or sexually explicit materials, child sexual abuse content, cyber terrorism, and government-sanctioned blocking of illegal content.

Moreover, he mentioned that according to the IT Rules, 2021, social media intermediaries are legally bound to exercise due diligence to prevent the spread of illegal, obscene, misleading, or harmful content. Failure to comply could result in the loss of their legal immunity and liability under the law.

Intermediaries must also remove unlawful content within a specified timeframe upon receiving court orders or directives from authorized government agencies.

Additionally, 'Significant Social Media Intermediaries'—those with over 5 million users—are mandated to appoint key officials, including a Grievance Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Nodal Contact Person in India, to ensure constant cooperation with law enforcement.

The government has also set up Grievance Appellate Committees to bolster user grievance redressal processes.

Furthermore, amendments to the IT Rules, effective February 20, 2026, introduce comprehensive measures to address new threats like deepfakes and synthetically generated information (SGI). These measures include clearer definitions of digital content, mandatory labeling and metadata requirements, periodic user awareness campaigns, stricter timelines for content removal, and enhanced due diligence frameworks to mitigate the spread of misleading or harmful material.

Rathore commended the government's detailed and forward-thinking response, emphasizing that decisive action against obscene and harmful social media content is imperative.

He asserted that the strengthened legal provisions will boost platform accountability while protecting citizens, particularly the youth and children, from digital threats.

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, Rathore remarked that India is swiftly advancing toward a secure, transparent, and responsible digital ecosystem.

He expressed optimism that such proactive and visionary policies will further elevate India's global position in cybersecurity.