Instagram restricts political cartoonist Satish acharya’s account for second time
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Political cartoonist Satish Acharya’s Instagram account was restricted in India for the second time in three weeks on Tuesday, raising fresh concerns over the government’s use of legal provisions to block online content.
A notice displayed by the Meta-owned platform said access to the account had been temporarily restricted “pursuant to legal requirements under India’s Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules”, although the specific reason for the latest restriction remained unclear.
Acharya shared a screenshot of the blocked account on X and criticised the government for what he described as an unnecessary preoccupation with restricting social media accounts. “Saheb, people have elected you to bring achche din,” he wrote, adding that the government was “wasting your term in blocking Instagram accounts”. He further asked, “Who is so scared of cartoon!”
The cartoonist’s account was previously restricted on September 28, following a legal request from the government under the Information Technology Rules, 2021, before being restored on October 5.
During the earlier episode, Instagram also restricted the work of fellow political cartoonist Manjul, whose cartoon concerning the Election Commission was made unavailable to users in India following a notice from the government or law enforcement authorities.
Among Acharya’s recent works were cartoons criticising the Delhi Police’s handling of protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, as well as the appointment of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim’s governor amid a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into a murder case.
Opposition and Left parties have been protesting against Kumar over the functioning of the Election Commission and alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls.
The latest restriction comes amid growing scrutiny of the authorities’ use of blocking orders to regulate online content. Nearly two lakh orders were reportedly issued to Instagram, Facebook and YouTube between March and July, amounting to approximately 1,275 orders a day.
Instagram received nearly one lakh orders, while Facebook received about 80,000 and YouTube approximately 15,000. Each order may cover hundreds of posts, individual pieces of content or accounts.