India ordered 200,000 online content takedowns in 4 months: RSF

Several incidents involving news organisations, independent journalists and political cartoonists have been reported since February, with restrictions affecting content on Instagram, Facebook and X

India’s online content takedowns have come under scrutiny, with nearly 200,000 removal orders issued through the government’s Sahyog portal between March and July 2026, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). New rules introduced in February reduced social media platforms’ takedown deadline from 36 hours to just three hours, raising concerns over press freedom, journalistic reporting and limited avenues for appeal.

In a press statement, RSF says that the government issued nearly 200,000 online content removal orders through its portal between March and July this year, compared with 2,312 orders between October 2024 and October 2025. The figures cover all types of online content, not only journalism.

The statement adds that Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), a Delhi-based organisation working on digital rights, told RSF that 40 instances of content takedowns and account blocking involving journalists or media organisations had been recorded in 2026. However, media reports suggest the actual number could be higher.

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According to reports in The Indian Express, Meta has integrated an application programming interface with the portal, enabling removal requests to be processed automatically on its platforms without prior review by a member of staff.

Content restrictions typically follow notices issued under Section 79(3)(b) or Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. However, the notices sent to content creators often provide limited information about the reasons for removal, the authority responsible or the legal grounds for the decision.

“Journalists find it increasingly difficult to challenge these restrictions, owing to lack of transparency about which authority initiated a takedown, under which legal provision and the basis for enforcing the same,” the SFLC told RSF.

In February, Instagram temporarily blocked the account of Delhi-based news outlet The Wire in India for around two hours after it published an animated cartoon critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although the account was restored, the post remained inaccessible on Instagram and Facebook and was also blocked on X.

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In March, Meta blocked the Facebook and Instagram accounts of three Kashmiri media organisations Greater Kashmir, Rising Kashmir and Kashmir Life without publicly explaining the reasons. The Facebook pages of Molitics and National Dastak were also blocked, while 4PM News Network faced restrictions on its Facebook page. Separately, South African journalist Azad Essa’s X account was suspended in India following government orders.

According to RSF, in May, an Instagram video published by the Environmental Reporting Collective examining the proposed Google data centre in Visakhapatnam, developed in partnership with the Adani Group, was blocked. The report focussed on the displacement of local Dalit communities and had received more than 2.6 million views before its removal. The video was restored on September 10 following legal intervention.

Restrictions continued in July, when content covering student protests in New Delhi was made inaccessible. Freelance journalist Sadhika Tiwari reported that X had blocked a video showing a student crying and alleging police violence. An interview published by independent journalist Yaqut Ali was also blocked three times on Instagram, while Meta restricted protest-related videos posted by Maktoob Media.

In August, Instagram blocked several posts by Scroll about victims of pellet-gun injuries in Kashmir. According to the outlet, this was the fourth time its posts had been blocked since June 2026. Content on the same subject published by The Wire on Facebook and Instagram was also made inaccessible in India. An article from The Hindu about victims of grenade attacks in Kashmir was similarly blocked on Instagram, says the statement.

In September, three independent journalists Monika Singh, Bindu Gurjar and Lokbhadra Singh had their Instagram accounts suspended after publishing a report on a health crisis affecting an Adivasi community in Madhya Pradesh. Their accounts were subsequently reactivated.

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RSF says that Instagram also blocked a report by Article 14 concerning civilians killed during protests in Ladakh, where demonstrators were demanding statehood. On X, a post by The Wire editor-in-chief Seema Chishti sharing an article about the demolition of a 150-year-old mosque was removed following a police request, before being restored.

The restrictions have also affected political cartoons. Instagram blocked access to cartoonist Satish Acharya’s account in India following a government request, while cartoonist Manjul reported that one of his cartoons had been restricted on September 27 following a similar request.

RSF has called on the Indian government to disclose the legal basis for content restrictions, end arbitrary takedown requests targeting the press and ensure independent assessment of journalistic material before restrictions are imposed. It has also urged Meta, X and other platforms to conduct enhanced human and legal reviews of requests concerning journalists and media organisations.

“The rise in measures that block investigations, reports and even entire media accounts speaks to the intensifying online censorship in India, which is carried out through opaque and expedited procedures. The authorities are establishing a system in which journalistic content of public interest can disappear within a matter of hours, without justification or any effective remedy. RSF calls on the Indian government to end the arbitrary takedown requests targeting the press, make the legal basis for each measure public and ensure there is an independent assessment of journalistic content before it is subject to any restrictions. The organisation also calls on Meta, X and other platforms to subject any request concerning a media outlet or journalist to enhanced human and legal review. These companies must also systematically inform the editorial teams concerned which authority is responsible for blocking their content, the reasons the content was blocked and the available avenues of redress. Any removed content that is found to be journalistic in nature must be restored without delay,” says Célia Mercier, Head of the South Asia Office, RSF.