India: Adopted Amendments to the IT (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 in relation to online gaming including content moderation

On 6 April 2023, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology adopted the amendments to the “Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021” in relation to online gaming and the spread of false and misleading information regarding government business. Under the amendments, online gaming intermediaries will be required to make reasonable efforts not to host, publish or share any online game that can cause the user harm or that has not been verified as a permissible online game. In addition, online gaming intermediaries will be required to implement systems that would allow for the display of a registration mark on all online games that are registered with an approved self-regulatory body and inform its users about the policy related to deposits, withdrawals and refunds.