The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has taken down 3,401 social media links, websites, and WhatsApp groups used for cybercrimes since March 14, according to CEO Rajesh Kumar. This action followed I4C’s designation by the home ministry to issue takedown orders under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, complied with over 90% of these orders, though compliance rates for other intermediaries were not disclosed.
I4C, the second agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs to receive this authority, joins the National Crime Records Bureau, which was notified in 2018. Legal experts have noted that Section 79(3)(b) creates a grey area regarding which entities can direct content removal and under what circumstances. Questions also remain about the necessity for central and state government agencies to be specifically notified in the official gazette to issue takedown notices.
Since I4C’s establishment in October 2018, over 3,000 URLs and 595 apps have been blocked under Section 69A of the IT Act for involvement in cybercrimes. This includes phishing links, illegal betting websites, scam apps, and other malicious sites. Section 69A enables the IT ministry to block content for national security reasons, while Section 79(3)(b) allows notified agencies to remove any unlawful content, thus lowering the threshold for content removal.
Kumar highlighted that cyber criminals exploit three systems, telecom infrastructure (SIM cards and mobile phones), the internet (fake ads, apps, and websites), and financial services (mule accounts) to commit crimes. In the past four months, I4C and state law enforcement agencies have frozen nearly 3,25,000 mule accounts. Additionally, 5,30,000 SIM cards and 80,848 IMEI numbers have been suspended or revoked since July 2023.
