criticism

The Union Government has directed a mass takedown of posts satirising, mocking and criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accounts condemning the Centre's response to the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations on X and Instagram. Several posts were taken down over the course of February 2026, including a post by Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia referencing a viral "mistranscription" of a Sanskrit subhashita previously cited by Modi, posts criticising the treatment and targeting of minorities in India and two animated satirical cartoons featuring the Prime Minister, according to a report by The Hindu. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVtKRSyEnvW/?igshMXF3cXU0OTRzNW9p Although statistical data on the number of posts taken down was not available, The Hindu's analysis of posts that received takedown orders showed that these orders are classified. Social media platforms accept the takedown orders by making the posts unavailable in India, but they can be seen in other countries. Meta's most updated takedown record shows that the number of content removed due to government orders from January to June 2025 was three times higher than during the same period in 2023. This does not include the content in India also taken down globally due to violations of community standards. The Wire's two animation videos satiring Modi were targeted with notices on both X and Instagram, and when the website's founder Siddharth Varadarajan reshared the second video, it was also taken down. https://youtu.be/rrCWLbZTJMI?si7MyVuOm8SIIffMYP https://youtu.be/t4kYxkUBGXw?sib4-H8A6-jT4_grX4 Congress also claimed that their satirical posts, which were generated by artificial intelligence (AI), were taken down. Party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said that in total, nine posts were taken down. Although it remains unclear how many orders were issued in the recent weeks, many public figures have come forward with receipts claiming their content that criticised the PM was taken down. Cartoonist Satish Acharya, on Tuesday, March 10, said he received two notifications in three days from X, citing orders from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block two of his cartoons. "Though this govt has lots of 'tejaswi log', let me share a pro-tip. My experience for the last 15 years on social media teaches me that whenever any govt/politician tries to stop a cartoon by force, that cartoon normally reaches ten times more readers!" he wrote in a social media post. (Source: X @Satish Acharya) (Source: X @Satish Acharya) Social media firms have almost no choice but to take down posts Notably, orders issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, are confidential. With Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, however, there has been a major shift, The Hindu reported. Platforms now reportedly have only two to three hours instead of the original 24 to 36 hours to process the government takedown order before risking legal impunity. If they miss the three-hour window, they could be prosecuted, and thus they have little choice but to comply and deliver the message to affected users. With most orders issued under Section 69A, Pranesh Prakash, cofounder of the Centre for Internet and Society, said they are "unconstitutional" because users are given a limited opportunity to be heard and there was no "public reasoned order." X, before it was bought by Elon Musk and operated as Twitter, regularly shared details of such orders, with a database made available and accessible to journalists and researchers. With the access halted, the volume of the orders can no longer be established. Orders issued to right-wing activists as well Two accounts linked to far-right-wing activists were also blocked, according to The Hindu. Sarthak Bhagat, a Hindutva worker, had recently staged a protest against the alleged murder of Tarun in Delhi's Uttam Nagar after an altercation during Holi. Another account named woke_kashmiri with more than 2 lakh followers was withheld in India. Both these accounts had previously spoken out against the UGC regulations.

criticism

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