India's government said social media companies would have to take down unlawful content within three hours of being notified about it, tightening on Tuesday an earlier 36-hour timeline in what could be a compliance challenge for Meta, YouTube and X.

The changes amend India's 2021 IT rules, which have already been a flashpoint between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and global technology companies.

The new regulations will take effect from February 20.

The move reinforces India's position as one of the world’s most aggressive regulators of online content, requiring platforms to balance compliance in a market of one billion internet users against mounting concerns over government censorship.

The government directive did not give any reason for the change in the timeline for takedowns.

"It's practically impossible for social media firms to remove content in three hours," said Akash Karmakar, a partner at Indian law firm Panag & Babu who specialises in technology law. "This assumes no application of mind or real world ability to resist compliance."

India has taken many steps to control online speech, empowering scores of officers in recent years to order content removal. That has often drawn criticism from digital rights advocates and prompted clashes with companies including Elon Musk’s X.

Thousands of take down orders

Facebook-owner Meta declined to comment on the changes, while X and Alphabet's Google, which operates YouTube, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

There is mounting global pressure on social media companies to police content more aggressively, with governments from Brussels to Brasilia demanding faster takedowns and greater accountability.

India's IT rules empower the government to order the removal of content deemed illegal under any of its laws, including those related to national security and public order.

The country has issued thousands of takedown orders in recent years, according to platform transparency reports. Meta alone restricted more than 28,000 pieces of content in India in the first six months of 2025 following government requests, it disclosed.

"This rule was never in consultation. International standards provide a longer timeline," a social media executive said on condition of anonymity.

The amended rules also relaxed an earlier proposal that would have required platforms to visibly label AI-generated content across 10% of its surface area or duration, instead mandating that such content be "prominently labelled".