Representative image. | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
A number of people posting content critical of the government on their X accounts were greeted with an email from the social media platform on Wednesday evening (March 18, 2026) telling them their accounts were now on hold in India. Reason: Takedown order issued by the Union Government under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The accounts, many of which are pseudonymous, posted memes and other content critical of the government in the weeks and months leading up to the censoring of their feeds. Accounts and posts remain visible to X users outside India.
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a Delhi-based digital rights advocacy group, called the censorship “alarming” and said “independent reporting has documented the shutdown of speech that appears to be political, satirical or critical, rather than overtly illegal”.
“Dangerous Trend”
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said at a press conference in New Delhi that this censorship was an “extremely dangerous trend”. Ms Shrinate accused the government of deciding “what is acceptable and what is not acceptable on social media”, adding that “anything critical of the Prime Minister will have to go”.
Targeted accounts include cliques that collectively have thousands of followers, but are mostly run anonymously. Caravan magazine said one of its posts, containing an extract from a story it published, was also removed under Section 69A, which allows the government to remove online content by sending a notice to the platforms that host it.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) did not respond to questions about the removal. Over the past few weeks, several individual posts mocking, criticizing and satirizing the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been “suspended” by Instagram X and Meta in India, although the government has not directly contacted those who posted the content. None of the deleted posts from that period appear to have been recovered, though IFF said it was helping some users challenge censorship at the IT ministry.
Protections defeated
“We remind the Union Government that the Supreme Court upheld Section 69A in the case of Shreya Singhal (v. Union of India) on the basis of procedural safeguards and written reasons which could be challenged,” the IFF said in a statement. “Secret and inaccessible censorship defeats these safeguards in practice. IFF urges the Union Government to stop any move to further decentralize blocking powers under Section 69A, publish blocking orders only in line with the letter and spirit of the Shreya Singhal judgment and ensure timely notice to affected users with clear reasons and avenues for redress.”
This is a link to reports that claim the government is considering allowing other departments to directly issue takedown orders under Section 69A, rather than channeling them through MeitY.
“India has become North Korea”
Sandeep Singh, an independent content creator whose account was suspended, said: “I am challenging this decision legally and I am doing my best to get my vote back.”
Other creators targeted by takedowns have also struck back. @Nher_who, who has over 2.4 million followers, wrote: “If the government thinks this blocking intimidation can silence me (sic) they are deeply mistaken. Indians can’t see my post without Vpn (virtual private network) but the world can and will know how India became North Korea.”
Published – 19 March 2026 21:08 IST
