Home ministry empowers I4C to send takedown orders to platforms | #cybercrime | #computerhacker

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has been empowered to send takedown orders to intermediaries when it comes to any digital content being used for illegal purposes, a Ministry of Home affairs gazette notification said.

Experts see this as an effort to streamline the process of sending takedown orders to platforms. As of now, different ministries and enforcement agencies worked directly with intermediaries and sent takedown orders.

The gazette notification says that the I4C was being notified under Section 79 (3) (b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, as the agency which can notify intermediaries hosting illegal content, and if the intermediary fails to remove such content, then the safe harbour provision that platforms enjoy can be removed.

The safe harbour provision protects platforms against liability from third-party content on the platform. Section 79  of the IT Act defines the safe harbour provision, and also lists down instances where the provision will not apply on intermediaries.

The I4C will not just proactively look for content that is illegal, but experts said, it can also act on user complaints that come through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

However, there is a divide in the line of thought among experts regarding the the ambit of the I4C and the content on which it can send takedown orders.

While some experts were of the opinion, that the I4C can only send takedown orders on content which fall under the Ministry of Home Affairs, such as cybercrime, others were of the opinion that the content the agency will act upon, can be broader. The second line of opinion places I4C as the nodal agency of the Indian government for sending takedown orders.

“The central government being the appropriate government hereby designate the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to be the agency of the Ministry of Home Affairs to perform the functions under clause (b) of sub-section (3) of Section 79 of Information Technology Act, 2000 and to notify the instances of information, data or communication link residing in or connected to a computer resource controlled by the intermediary being used to commit the unlawful act,” the March 13 notification says.

Sec 79 (3) (b) of the IT Act 2000 says: “Upon receiving actual knowledge, or on being notified by the appropriate Government or its agency that any information, data or communication link residing in or connected to a computer resource, controlled by the intermediary is being used to commit the unlawful act, the intermediary fails to expeditiously remove or disable access to that material on that resource without vitiating the evidence in any manner.”