New Delhi, Feb. 11 -- Social media companies must now remove or disable access to certain unlawful or harmful content within three hours of receiving a valid government direction, a formal grievance, or becoming aware of a clear violation, under amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, notified on Tuesday. The new deadline - a sharp reduction from the previous 36-hour window under Rule 3(1)(d) - was not part of draft amendments released by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) in October 2025 and has been introduced only in the final notification. The amendments take effect on February 20, 2026. The tighter timeline, requiring near-instant action from platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, is expected to face pushback from industry. Legal experts warned the shift leaves little room for careful review, especially in cases involving subjective violations such as copyright disputes or fair use claims, and could force platforms to remove reported content first and assess it later, increasing the risk of over-takedown. Google did not respond to HT's queries by the time of publication, while Meta Platforms said it is reviewing the amendments internally. X did not respond.htc...