On average, one blocking order was issued every 68 seconds, or 1,275 every day, with nearly 1.95 lakh blocking orders issued to several social media platforms between March and July by the Central government, most of them directed at Instagram and Facebook, with nearly 1 lakh blocking orders sent to Instagram and 80,000 orders to Facebook to take down posts related to the Gen Z protests at Jantar Mantar.
As compared to the previous year, there was a surge in government orders urging social media platforms to remove content, mostly related to the Gen Z protests across the country over alleged examination leaks and other concerns, while the protests gained particular momentum in Delhi during June and July, with Jantar Mantar emerging as a major site of mobilisation, according to The Indian Express.
Data obtained by TIE through a Right to Information (RTI) application showed that only 2,312 blocking orders were issued to 19 online platforms between October 2024 and October 2025 through the government’s Sahyog portal, representing an average of about six orders a day, compared with the substantially higher volume recorded between March and July this year.
Most of the orders were issued through the Sahyog portal, developed to facilitate notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and with nearly one lakh government directions issued during the five-month period, Instagram topped the list, followed by Facebook with nearly 80,000, while YouTube accounted for around 15,000.
The government has also tightened the timeframe within which platforms are expected to remove flagged content. Meta has integrated its Application Programming Interface (API) with the Sahyog portal to comply with a new three-hour takedown requirement, replacing the earlier 24-hour timeline. The integration allows content identified through government directions to be removed automatically, without requiring an individual human review.
These measures are separate from blocking orders issued under Section 69A of the IT Act, which provides the government with powers to restrict online content on grounds including national security and public order.
Meanwhile, news organisations and individual creators have also reported restrictions on their social media content. The Wire said several of its posts and reports were removed from Facebook and Instagram, while other journalists, fact-checkers, political content creators, and protest groups have alleged takedowns or account restrictions.