Social media news creators to come under I&B Ministry ambit

New Delhi: Social media content creators, including YouTubers and influencers, who post news-related content online, could soon face the same government oversight as professional news publishers as the Centre has proposed tweaks to the Information Technology rules.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on Monday issued the draft Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Second Amendment Rules, 2026, seeking stakeholders’ views by April 14.

The proposal seeks to bring news and current affairs content posted by private individuals — including YouTubers, Instagram Reels creators, X (Twitter) users, and other influencers with significant followings — under Part III of the rules.

Part III currently governs digital media ethics and enforces a three-tier content oversight mechanism, which previously applied only to professional media organisations such as publishers, online news portals and news aggregators.

The existing rules explicitly excluded “any individual or user who is not transmitting content in the course of systematic business, professional or commercial activity”.

The proposed amendment removes this exemption for anyone posting content that qualifies as news or current affairs.

If notified, individual users’ news-related posts on platforms like YouTube, Instagram or X, who are not registered news publishers, would fall under the purview of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

This would allow MIB to issue blocking orders for content hosted on social media channels, or require them to change the content if it is found to be in violation of the rules for news publishers.

The draft also introduces a new compliance requirement where intermediaries must adhere to any clarification, advisory, order, direction, standard operating procedure, or guideline issued by MeitY.

If notified, the amended rules will apply to all intermediaries operating in India, including global social media platforms and video streaming services.