The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has released a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to strengthen mechanisms for the removal and prevention of Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery content on online platforms. The Ministry said the rules aim to provide clear and victim-centric procedures for the swift removal of such objectionable content and to ensure effective implementation of the Information Technology Rules.

Under the new rules, victims can approach the one-stop centres for assistance, or directly report content through in-app reporting mechanisms, or report incidents online on the National Cybercrime Reporting portal. Complaints can also be lodged at local police stations for immediate action. After receiving complaints, intermediaries are required to remove or disable access to flagged content within 24 hours, use hash-matching and crawler technologies to prevent the reappearance of the same or similar content. They must also report actions taken and ensure coordination with government portals like Sahyog under the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs. It will also enable inter-agency coordination between the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, the Department of Telecommunications and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.