One Blocking Order Every 68 Seconds: Government Sent Nearly 1.95 Lakh Takedown Directives to Meta, YouTube in Five Months

India issued nearly 1.95 lakh directions seeking to restrict online content on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube between March and July 2026, averaging one blocking order every 68 seconds, according to data accessed by The Indian Express. The surge came during a period that included the students' protests over exam leaks at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, with Instagram receiving the highest number of government directives.

Instagram Received Nearly 1 Lakh Blocking Orders

The figures show that Instagram received nearly one lakh blocking orders during the five-month period, accounting for more than half of all directions sent to the three platforms.

Facebook received around 80,000 orders, while YouTube received nearly 15,000. Together, Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram accounted for roughly nine out of every 10 blocking directions issued to the three platforms.

On average, authorities issued around 1,275 blocking orders every day during the period.

Each blocking order can cover hundreds of individual posts, accounts or other pieces of online content. A majority of the directions were reportedly issued by Central and state agencies through the Union Home Ministry's Sahyog portal.

Blocking Orders: (From March to July 2026)

Sharp Rise From Previous Year

The volume marks a dramatic increase from the number of blocking orders reported earlier.

RTI records accessed by The Indian Express last year showed that 2,312 blocking orders were sent to 19 online platforms through the Sahyog portal between October 2024 and October 2025, averaging around six orders a day.

By comparison, nearly 1.95 lakh orders were sent to just three major platforms between March and July this year.

A senior government official told the newspaper that a considerable share of the latest directions was issued during the students' protests over exam leaks, particularly as the demonstrations gathered momentum on Instagram.

The protests began at Delhi's Jantar Mantar in early June and ended on July 25 following the resignation of then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Meta Reportedly Integrated API With Sahyog Portal

The report said Meta had integrated its Application Programming Interface, or API, with the Sahyog portal to comply with the government's three-hour deadline for removing flagged content.

Under the reported system, content identified through government directions uploaded to the portal can be automatically restricted or taken down from Meta's platforms without a separate human review by the company before compliance.

Digital rights activists have raised concerns over the automated mechanism, arguing that platforms are legally required to act after receiving "actual knowledge" of a lawful order.

Apar Gupta, advocate and founder director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, said an automated system could remove the opportunity for a company to independently examine whether a takedown direction met the legal requirements.

He argued that machine-to-machine execution could effectively turn a conditional legal obligation into automatic compliance.

Posts Linked to Protests and Government Criticism Targeted

Information shared by users on social media indicated that some restrictions appeared to target posts supporting the students' protests, criticism of the government's ethanol fuel blending policy and content linked to the West Bengal Assembly elections.

Content involving deepfakes was also among the material reportedly targeted.

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal had also said that some of his Instagram posts were blocked in India.

The directions issued through Sahyog are largely linked to Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, under which intermediaries can be required to remove allegedly unlawful content to retain legal protection for user-generated material hosted on their platforms.

These orders are separate from directions issued under Section 69A of the IT Act, which is used for blocking online content and is generally associated with matters involving national security, public order and related concerns.

Three-Hour Takedown Rule Increased Pressure on Platforms

Industry sources said companies had stepped up compliance following changes to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

In February, the IT Ministry notified amendments requiring certain content to be removed within two to three hours, significantly reducing the earlier compliance window of around 24 to 36 hours.

The shorter deadline has increased pressure on social media companies to act rapidly on government directions.

India has more than 600 million social media users, making it one of the world's largest markets for major technology platforms. Estimates suggest that between 10 million and 100 million posts may be uploaded daily across social media platforms in the country.

Meta's India Takedowns Remain Far Below Some Other Markets

The number of government blocking directions does not necessarily correspond directly with the number of individual posts eventually removed.

According to Meta's latest transparency report, the company took down more than 41,000 pieces of content in India between July and December 2025, more than double the approximately 28,000 pieces removed between January and June that year.

In Indonesia, which has less than a third of India's social media user base, Meta removed more than 23 million pieces of content during the July-December 2025 period.

Meta has said that it generally informs users about the government or state authority behind legal requests that result in content restrictions. However, the company does not provide such information in India and certain other markets because of what it describes as legal obligations and regulatory considerations.

Meta and Google did not respond to queries sent by The Indian Express before publication. The Union Ministries of Home Affairs and Electronics and Information Technology also did not respond to questions on the reported rise in blocking orders.