Section 79 Safe Harbour
Definition
The IT Act 2000 provision that exempts intermediaries from liability for third-party content, conditional on observing due diligence under the Intermediary Guidelines and acting on actual knowledge or a takedown order.
- Statute
- Information Technology Act 2000, Section 79
- Jurisdiction
- India
- Condition
- Due diligence under the Intermediary Guidelines
- Lost when
- Actual knowledge or a takedown order is not acted on
Common questions
What counts as actual knowledge that removes the safe harbour?+
Courts have generally required a court order or a notification from a government agency, not a private complaint alone, before an intermediary is treated as having actual knowledge that triggers a takedown duty.
Does Section 79 protect an intermediary that edits or moderates content?+
Active editorial control over content can weaken the claim to be a passive intermediary, since the protection is built around a conduit role rather than a publisher role.
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