Safe Harbour (Intermediary Liability)
The legal protection under Section 79 of the IT Act that shields intermediaries from liability for third-party content they host or transmit, subject to prescribed due diligence.
Full Definition
Section 79 of the IT Act provides that an intermediary shall not be liable for any third-party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted by it — provided the intermediary: does not initiate the transmission, does not select the receiver, does not modify the content, and observes due diligence as prescribed in the IT Rules. The safe harbour is lost if the intermediary has actual knowledge of unlawful content (through court order or government direction) and fails to expeditiously remove it. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 set out the due diligence requirements — including a tiered compliance framework for significant social media intermediaries.
In Indian Law
IT Act Section 79. The Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) read down Section 79(3)(b): intermediaries are required to remove content only upon receipt of a court order or government direction — not based on private complaints alone. This prevents chilling effects on free speech while preserving the safe harbour framework. The IT Rules 2021 added significant obligations for large platforms: grievance redressal mechanisms, monthly compliance reports, and for messaging apps, the requirement to trace the originator of messages when ordered by a court or government.
Related Legal Sections
Landmark Cases
Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) — Section 79 read down to require court/government order for content removal
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Google get safe harbour protection for search results showing defamatory content?
Generally yes — Google is an intermediary and benefits from Section 79 protection for search results generated by its algorithm. However, if a court orders removal of specific defamatory URLs and Google fails to comply, it loses safe harbour for those specific results.