Modi govt issues 1.95 lakh social media blocking orders from March to July
New Delhi: The BJP-led Indian government issued around 1.95 lakh blocking orders to social media platforms between March and July this year, marking a sharp surge in government-directed content removals.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the figures shows that, on average, one blocking order was issued every 68 seconds, amounting to around 1,275 orders each day.
The Indian Express reported a significant increase in government and agency directives to Instagram, Facebook and YouTube during the March-July period, ordering them to block or remove posts, videos and accounts.
The surge coincided with Gen Z-led protests at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi over paper leaks and irregularities in examinations. The protests began in early June and ended on July 25 following the resignation of Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
By comparison, RTI records show that only 2,312 blocking orders were issued to 19 online platforms between October 2024 and October 2025, averaging around six orders a day.
A senior government official said a significant portion of the blocking orders issued between March-July came as the protest movement gained momentum, particularly on Instagram.
Instagram received the highest number of government directives, with around 100,000 blocking orders issued during the five-month period—slightly more than half of the total. Facebook received around 80,000 orders, while YouTube received approximately 15,000.
Thus, Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta, received around 90 percent of the total orders issued to the three platforms.
Notably, the figures represent the number of blocking orders, not the number of posts or accounts actually blocked. A single order can contain instructions to remove hundreds of different posts or accounts.
Most of the orders were reportedly issued by the India’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
