Over the past few weeks, journalists, independent creators, news organisations, activists and Opposition politicians have been reporting a growing number of Instagram accounts being restricted in India or posts being arbitrarily taken down — many of them concerning the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, the brutal police crackdown that followed, or simply content critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government or its policies.
While the police arrested and detained protesters across cities, the government has simultaneously been taking down content on Instagram through notices that may have been issued under Section 79(3)(b) or Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Yes, may have been, because there is no clarity to the entire mechanism whatsoever.
The Timing of the Censorship Frenzy
The timing of this state-sanctioned censorship frenzy is particularly alarming. It comes in the immediate aftermath of the CJP protests, a youth-led movement whose reach and mobilisation were powered overwhelmingly by the digital ecosystem, particularly Instagram. The platform played a pivotal role in transforming CJP from a satire page into a nationwide movement that forced the government to concede to some of its core demands.
Born as a reaction to a snide remark made by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, CJP found its nucleus in the social media spaces occupied by young people. The group created its Instagram page in early May, posting reels, memes and explainers and rapidly amassing a following that surpassed that of every major political party in India. With 26.5 million followers as of today, CJP demonstrated how online engagement could be converted into massive street mobilisation across the country.
From the 36-day sit-in and hunger strike by Sonam Wangchuk and protesting students, to the Jantar Mantar ‘Sansad Chalo’ march on July 20 and solidarity protests across cities, Instagram was the primary platform through which participants and the wider public received and disseminated information. It enabled volunteers, creators and ordinary users to amplify protest calls, coordinate demonstrations and broadcast events in real time.
Instagram, owned by Meta, was therefore not merely a digital record of the movement; it was one of the principal engines of it. The scale of the street mobilisation, catalysed by the platform, eventually forced the government to concede to several of CJP’s core demands, including former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, compensation for families of students who died by suicide, and several reformative measures announced by the government.
It is against this backdrop that the timing of the current censorship becomes especially significant. A platform that proved capable of turning youth discontent into one of the country’s largest grassroots movements is now at the centre of an opaque censorship drive, raising questions about what and who the state is seeking to silence.
Anti-establishment Wave Forces Modi to Make Reels
This digital upheaval also managed to create an unprecedented anti-establishment wave, which not only led to the resignation of a cabinet minister for the first time in BJP’s 12-year rule but also compelled Prime Minister Narendra Modi to create Instagram reels responding to the growing discontentment towards his governance.
The 75-year-old PM, who has not held a single press conference in 12 years, made five consecutive reels wherein he directly addressed the youth protesters — referring to them as ‘friends’ as opposed to his usual ‘Mitron’. A marked departure from BJP’s traditionally scripted social media communication, in his candidly-shot selfie videos, Modi assured the disgruntled Gen-Zs who steered the protest, that his government is committed to taking action against the paper leaks and is actively taking measures to resolve their grievances.
The entire censorship drive is playing out concurrently with tensions deepening between Meta and the BJP government, with many suspecting that the rise in censorship of anti-government content on Instagram is a result of the former succumbing to pressure.
The tech giant drew the government’s ire after it claimed to have erroneously removed Modi’s July 23 post addressing the protesting students from Facebook. Although the video was quickly restored, a parliamentary standing committee gave a three-day ultimatum to CEO Mark Zuckerberg to issue an apology while threatening to revoke the platform’s safe harbour immunity in India. This led to Meta’s chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan reportedly flying in from the United States, meeting Union minister Ashwini Vaishnav and apologising on behalf of the company on Wednesday.
‘Blanket Ban On Protest, Modi Related Content’
However, Modi’s ‘friendly assurances’ did not keep the government from suppressing dissenting voices on Instagram. On August 6, Thursday, CJP spokesperson Saurav Das shared screenshots on X of his Instagram posts being taken down, calling it a “blanket ban on protest and Modi related content”. The two posts, uploaded on June 12 and 18, were about Das’ arrival in Bengaluru for a peaceful protest and CJP securing police clearance for the July 20 protest in Delhi, respectively.
Turns out my content on Instagram too was restricted in India. What is this blanket ban on protest related and Modi related content? It is unconstitutional and illegal. It is absolutely ridiculous.
We appeal to @Meta to not succumb to such high-handed pressure from the… pic.twitter.com/GxjQ70kx9q
— Saurav Das (@SauravDassss) August 6, 2026
Another CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka tweeted that four of his videos were restricted in India.
So Meta has restricted 4 of my videos in India.
One video showed how police was stopping food from reaching Jantar Mantar. The other was made when @Wangchuk66 was forcefully picked up.@Meta – I know this govt fears us, but last I checked, you were still preaching about free… pic.twitter.com/8wzVzxRr6r
— Ashutosh Ranka (@AshutoshRanka) August 7, 2026
CJP’s official Instagram page was briefly made unavailable in India on July 22, two days after the Jantar Mantar stir. “Cockroach Janta Party’s Instagram account has been taken down by Narendra Modi,” Dipke wrote on his X handle with the screenshot that displayed the message, “This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”
‘Automated’ Crackdown
Two videos uploaded by independent news outlet Maktoob Media on July 21 and 23 were blocked in India under the IT Rules. “Your post is unavailable in India. We restricted access to this content through an automated system implemented pursuant to legal requirements under India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules,” the notification read.
View this post on Instagram
Speaking to Alt News, Maktoob Media editor Aslah Kayyalakkath said, “Both the videos were our original journalistic content analysing the protest and the subsequent police crackdown. The first video, in particular, examined how Right-wing propaganda media outlets were misrepresenting the protest. It was removed within minutes of being uploaded on July 21. Neither video contained graphic visuals, yet they were restricted without any specific explanation about what exactly violated the law.” He mentioned that the notification did not include any steps to appeal for withdrawing the restriction and mails to Meta did not yield any response.
“For an independent newsroom, this is not merely about two videos being unavailable. When documentation of protests and police action can disappear from a major platform without a clear reason, it raises serious questions about transparency, accountability and censorship,” he added.
Priyanshi Sharma, co-founder of independent news outlet Peek TV, posted on X that an August 4 interview with 23-year-old Shradha Singh, one of the protesters who allegedly received “rape and death threats”, was arbitrarily removed from their Instagram page. The video discussed the alleged harassment, doxxing and online abuse women protesters have been facing since July 20.
This video was removed from our Instagram handle today. We don’t know why. We have posted it again. https://t.co/1rOltEKVDL
— Priyanshi Sharma (@Priyanshi50) August 4, 2026
Sonal Hayat, a journalist with The Independent, told Alt News that her Instagram story on July 28, a repost of Hussain Haidry’s tweet on women criticising the BJP receiving “rape threats” by “BJP supporters and IT Cell”, was removed with the same notification citing “an automated system” and “IT rules”.
“I had just reshared a tweet adding that I had also been trolled by the IT Cell. I just got a notification that my story was removed, there was no reason given. This forms part of a pattern of the government just removing anything and everything that criticises them,” she said.
‘Anything Anti-Government Will Be Removed’
Political content creator Shrishti Khanna, who has been fighting an uphill battle with Instagram, told Alt News that her account with 104,000 followers was restricted in India, which compelled her to create a back-up account. “I have been creating political content on Instagram for a while, often discussing issues like the Palestinian genocide, local Indian politics, Hindutva, the RSS-BJP playbook. On June 9, my account, which had nearly 100,000 followers, was suddenly suspended without any prior notice within 24 hours of me posting about an alleged Israeli war criminal vacationing in India. Meta claimed it was due to copyright violations, even though the posts were entirely my own reporting. After I appealed, Meta admitted it was an error and restored my account,” she said.
“However, on July 7, my account was blocked in India by government order under Section 79(3)(b), which implies that it was intentionally flagged by a police officer and Meta had to comply. Again, I received no notice or mails from either Meta or the government. People started messaging me that they could not view my account in India. I opened my account and there was no notification. The whole process was so discreet that I only discovered the restriction by digging through Meta’s settings. My account was banned right after I spoke about Kashmir, but since no was reason communicated, this is just my hypothesis,” she said.
View this post on Instagram
Khanna has approached the Delhi high court with a writ petition on the restriction and her next hearing is on September 2. “I have consistently been subjected to hate campaigns by Right-wing trolls, rape and death threats, and even AI-generated deepfakes of myself. If you say anything against the government or Modi, they will target you,” she said.
Content creator Anjali Priya told Alt News that on July 24 she received a notification that her July 23 satirical post demanding Pradhan’s resignation with a screenshot of Modi’s ‘Hi Friends’ video was restricted in India. “I was not given any prior notice that my post will be restricted in my own country where my entire audience base is. There was no reason except ‘we have received a legal request to restrict access to your post’ mentioned,” she said.
Three of Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair’s Instagram posts were restricted in India either citing the IT Rules or in accordance with Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act. The posts, uploaded on May 19, June 8, and June 28, showed a youth recording himself voting eight times for a BJP candidate in Uttar Pradesh, BJP leader Nazia Elahi’s hate speech at a press conference, and skewed coverage of news agencies ANI, PTI & IANS, respectively.
In the same vein, news outlet Scroll.in on Thursday published a report stating that four of its Instagram posts were restricted in India, all similarly citing “legal requirements” under the IT Rules and “through an automated system”. The posts covered lack of compensation for Kashmir’s pellet gun victims, a photo showing pellet injuries, the contentious Chauhaan film teaser and a legal challenge to Amritsar’s meat-sale ban. All four, concerning politically sensitive issues and critical of government policy, were made unavailable in India without a specific reason. Scroll is yet to receive a response from Meta.
The Hindu on Friday also reported that their Instagram post on Kashmir pellet victim Insha Mushtaq was restricted in India. “The story on which the Instagram post was made was published on August 1 and we received a notice that it was restricted in India on August 8. The story is still up on our website, but we suspect that it has been restricted on Instagram. This is being done to deny the new generation access to politically sensitive stories, particularly stories on pellet guns, after it was reported that they were used during the CJP protests. This story also mentioned the CJP protests, and reportage on that is also being blocked on Instagram,” a source from The Hindu told Alt News.
View this post on Instagram
Meanwhile, former chief minister of Delhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) founder Arvind Kejriwal’s Instagram account was also momentarily restricted in India on Thursday.
He highlighted that lack of response from Meta on X, saying “… No one in your office is giving any reasons. No one is suggesting how restrictions can be removed. All emails written have elicited no response…Don’t bow down to our Prime Minister so much. Else he will allow u to run only his own account in India.”
Hi @Meta @metaindia
Why have you restricted my account? Verbal enquiries at your India office revealed that my account has been restricted in India and is unavailable in India. Why? Noone in your office is giving any reasons. Noone is suggesting how restrictions can be removed.… pic.twitter.com/4JThAqFMon
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 6, 2026
AAP’s official handle on X also posted a screenshot of several Instagram posts being made unavailable in India. “No explanation. No accountability. Just silence…Meta, stop hiding behind silence. Tell India why accounts are being restricted on your platforms and whose orders you are acting on. Despite several emails, why are we still not getting a response?” read the post.
Vague Legal Orders and a Dead-end Appeals Process
This lack of transparency and any effective avenue for appeal against the takedowns trap users in a black box of opacity and confusion.
Notably, on August 6, the Union ministry of electronics & IT (MeitY) announced in a circular that the “timeline for the removal of unlawful content has been reduced from 36 hours to 3 hours”. The circular defines ‘unlawful content’ as “information prohibited under any law for the time being in force in relation to the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India; security of the State; friendly relations with foreign States; public order; decency or morality; in relation to contempt of court; defamation; incitement an offence relating to the above; or any information which is prohibited under any law…”
The circular mandates ‘takedown notices’: “Social media intermediaries are required to remove any unlawful information as and when brought to their knowledge either through a court order or through a reasoned intimation, in writing from the Appropriate Government or its agency.” It also outlines a grievance redressal mechanism: “Intermediaries are required to appoint Grievance Officers and resolve complaints within the prescribed timelines. Users can appeal online at https://www.gac.gov.in if their complaints are not addressed by the intermediaries’ Grievance Officers.”
However, in several cases examined by Alt News, users highlighted that they received no prior notice or specific explanation for the restrictions. Meta’s notifications cited only two reasons: restriction in compliance with a legal request and through an automated system based on legal requirements under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act. In most cases, users flagged how these notices were largely vague and lacked any real information on who ordered the restriction or what content allegedly violated the law. They also highlighted lack of an option to appeal for restoration of their accounts or posts, or response on mails sent to Meta directly.
Users said that upon clicking on the ‘See why’ after a post or account is restricted, the same message on automated systems and legal requirements under IT Rules appear and upon clicking ‘Where this happened’, ‘India’ appears as the location where the content is restricted. For ‘How we made this decision’, the exact same message that appeared in the initial notice, “We have taken this action based on a local legal requirement”, reappears; a very similar message is displayed upon opening Meta’s ‘Transparency Centre’ — creating a loop of opaque explanations. Below are the series of messages users encounter:
Click to view slideshow.Affected users also the questioned the ‘automated system’ and and the lack of clarity over how it functions. “What is particularly shocking is Meta’s explanation. What exactly is this automated system? Does this mean there is now a system that automatically identifies and blocks journalistic content in the name of complying with legal requirements? The idea that this process could now be automated, without any transparency about why a particular piece of journalism is being blocked, is deeply alarming and dangerous for press freedom,” said Kayyalakkath.
As public discourse increasingly shifts from the streets to social media feeds, the rise in Instagram censorship begs the question: will there ever remain a space for democratic dissent in this country — online or offline?
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Amarabati Bhattacharyya.
Amarabati Bhattacharyya | Radio Free (2026-08-12T08:08:15+00:00) Government orders trigger sweeping Instagram censorship days after CJP protest. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2026/08/12/government-orders-trigger-sweeping-instagram-censorship-days-after-cjp-protest/
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