# Centre cuts sensitive content takedown time to 2 hours 2026-08-07T09:50:24+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Centre has slashed the time given to social media platforms to remove sensitive content from 24 hours to two hours, the government announced on Thursday. The change is part of amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, made on February 10, 2026. The amendments also cut the deadline for removing unlawful information after a valid government or court notice from 36 hours to three hours. Grievance redressal time has been reduced from 72 hours to 36 hours. Platforms with over 50 lakh users must use automated tools to proactively identify harmful content such as child sexual abuse material and rape depictions. AI-generated content, including deepfakes, must be clearly labelled with traceable metadata. The government warned that platforms failing to comply could lose legal protection under Section 79 of the IT Act and face prosecution. Business Today reports that the rules are part of ongoing engagement with Meta over content moderation. ## Coverage - timesnownews.com - businesstoday.in Tags: AI content, content moderation, deepfakes, IT Rules, social media Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/centre-cuts-sensitive-content-takedown-deadline-to-two-hours/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/centre-cuts-sensitive-content-takedown-deadline-to-two-hours/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.