Sahyog Portal’s e-commerce push
Sahyog Portal’s e-commerce push
The Sahyog Portal, originally launched in 2024 to streamline takedown orders of “unlawful content” on social media, is now expanding into e-commerce platforms, thereby conflicting with the existing FDI rules. While other legal challenges surrounding the Portal’s takedown notifications for digital intermediaries persist, this expansion introduces another layer of regulatory complexity.
The portal now requires e-commerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Nykaa to join the portal and respond to government-issued takedown notices manually. The intended aim is to improve law enforcement’s ability to act quickly against illegal listings and tackle cybercrime. Here, we see yet another attempt at tackling cybercrime through broad regulations with numerous unintended consequences, akin to TRAI’s Cybersecurity Rules Amendment, 2025.
The crux of the conflict in this case lies in India’s FDI policy, which strictly prohibits e-commerce marketplaces from directly or indirectly influencing seller listings or prices. These regulations are designed to ensure marketplaces act as neutral platforms rather than retailers. Yet, Sahyog’s requirements push platforms toward actively removing or altering seller listings based on government notices. This obligation clashes directly with the FDI policy and legally requires platforms to intervene in seller content, thereby crossing the boundary from neutral intermediary to active marketplace participant.
The opacity of the process also raises the risk of wrongful or excessive takedowns, with limited formal grievance redressal mechanisms for sellers who may be impacted by overreach or error, potentially resulting in a sudden loss of business or reputational harm.
While safe harbour protections for platforms are outlined in the Information Technology (IT) Act, these provisions are contingent upon complying with government takedown notices. As a result, aggressive or ambiguous notice regimes risk pushing platforms toward over-censorship, thereby undermining their intermediary role and inviting legal risk. Ultimately, this situation highlights the urgent need to harmonise overlapping laws and policies regulating digital content and e-commerce to provide clearer legal frameworks for all stakeholders.