One Size Doesn't Fit All: Understanding Social Media Platform Regulation in India
Growing concerns over platform accountability and content governance have led to expanded state intervention in social media regulation. In India, the Information Technology (Amendment) Act (ITAA) and its successive IT Rules aim to impose obligations on platforms while safeguarding user rights. We investigate how the Indian state defines platform responsibilities and how platforms interpret and comply with these expectations. Through a two-stage document analysis of legislative texts; government-mandated compliance reports from X, WhatsApp, and ShareChat; and publicly available information about the platforms, we reveal significant divergences in compliance shaped by each platform's technological infrastructure, business model, and sociality. Our findings highlight the ITAA's failure to account for platforms' technological agency and emphasise the need for nuanced, platform-operation-sensitive regulations. Crucially, this assessment comes as India prepares to overhaul the IT Act with a new Digital India Act, making it timely for informing more effective and balanced regulation that aligns with platform realities while safeguarding democratic discourse online. Our insights are globally relevant, as governments worldwide seek effective strategies for creating safer online environments.