Guwahati, Oct. 9 -- Major social media companies have been told to respond first to complaints about unlawful online material from authorised authorities, including law enforcement agencies, according to sources.

The directive came in an advisory issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on October 8.

The ministry expressed concern about information circulating online in connection with the protests, which may be false, misleading, altered or stripped of its original context.

An official familiar with the matter said the advisory calls on major platforms to identify unlawful posts and give priority to complaints received from authorised government bodies.

The ministry cautioned that the circulation of su...