In February 2021, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology announced new guidelines for social media companies, which required, among other things, the appointment of a chief compliance officer and the removal of content within 36 hours when requested by authorities, to take effect in May.[1]
Several companies, such as Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp, failed to confirm that they would comply and requested a 6-month delay to the enforcement of the law.[2] Koo, an India-based alternative to Twitter, announced it had complied with the law,[3] while Facebook announced its intent to comply.[4] On May 26, WhatsApp took the Indian government to court, stating that they believed the new laws were "unconstitutuional".[5]