INDIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Shivalik Chandan, Hardik Choudhary, Dhruv Singh and Arjun Khurana, G&W Legal
Key Challenges Given the dynamic nature of social media, sev - eral legal challenges may arise. One primary challenge is the removal of content and sharing of user data with government authorities during official investigations. Social media companies are often asked by government authorities to provide user data or to remove certain content, and co-operation is not always smooth. Failure to co-operate can result in social media com - panies losing their “safe harbour” protection under the law. Another significant challenge for social media companies is adopting adequate measures to ensure child safety and address the prevalence of obscenity on their platforms. In terms of data protection, cybersecurity, and data monetisation, the DPDPA clearly mandates the “explicit consent” of the data subject regard - ing the purpose and manner of processing their personal data. In the event of a breach, strict timelines are imposed for reporting the breach to government organisations like CERT-In, as well as to the data subjects and the DPB. For issues related to intellectual property, see 9.3 Intellec- tual Property . 10.2 Regulatory and Compliance Issues Bodies and Regulatory Powers The agencies that regulate online games, as discussed in 9.2 Regulatory Bodies , also regu - late social media and their enforcement powers apply mutatis mutandis to social media. Enforcement Examples In November 2024, the CCI imposed a fine of USD25.4 million in relation to WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy, which allowed data sharing with other Meta entities. Meta’s practice of mandat - ing that WhatsApp user data be shared with other Meta entities (as a condition for consumers to use WhatsApp) was found to be an abuse of
establish clear ownership of any IP created, as stipulated in their terms and conditions. The IT Rules 2021 explicitly impose such obligations on online gaming intermediaries. 10. Social Media 10.1 Laws and Regulations for Social Media The laws and regulations applicable to online games, as discussed in 9.1 Regulations , apply mutatis mutandis to social media as well. Spe - cifically, the IT Rules 2021 provide definitions for “social media intermediary” and “signifi - cant social media intermediary”. The additional obligations under these rules apply only to sig - nificant social media intermediaries (currently, platforms with over five million users) and not to all social media intermediaries. In one of the latest developments, the DPDPA and the draft DPDP Rules 2025 impact the presence of chil - dren (under the age of 18) on social media. The draft DPDP Rules 2025 require “verifiable paren - tal consent” to process children’s data, which includes verification of the identity and age of the parent or legal guardian by the data fiduciary. Practically, this may mean that children below the age of 18 may not be able to access social media without explicit consent from their parents or legal guardians. Industry Code of Conduct There is no unified industry code of conduct for social media. Instead, different companies have developed their own guidelines for ethi - cal conduct in relation to social media. These guidelines typically cover areas such as content moderation, combating misinformation, fact- checking, user protection, two-step verification, and addressing bots.
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