Civil society groups complain of growing censorship to IT Ministry

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology faced questions from civil society on Tuesday (April 7, 2026), after proposing a rule change that would give the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting greater powers to treat individual social media users like regulated news publishers. In two back-to-back meetings on Tuesday afternoon, IT Secretary S. Krishnan heard from civil society and industry groups representing social media firms, with the former expressing concerns on growing censorship of viral anti-establishment content on social media.

At a 1 p.m. meeting with the Ministry, social media firms and other online firms asked for more time to send in comments on the draft amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The firms’ representatives, however, did not mention the surge in high-profile censorship of their users, two attendees at the meeting told The Hindu.

During the meeting that followed, with certain civil society representatives, lawyers and think tank representatives, the references to censorship grew. The Internet Freedom Foundation, a Delhi-based digital rights advocacy, said in the meeting that the draft amendment, which would also make it mandatory for social media platforms to follow “advisories” issued by the IT Ministry, should be withdrawn and that it was “illegal,” the organisation said in a statement after the exchange.

IFF said that even though the meeting was ostensibly for civil society, there were industry participants in this meeting as well. “Civil society participation was sparse, with only three to four organisations in the room,” the group said. “This speaks to the gradual erosion of capacity and shrinking number of civil society organisations in India that work on digital rights.”

Several viral posts and accounts mocking and satirizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been targeted with takedown orders from the IT Ministry in recent weeks. DrNimoYadav, one such handle, has been restored on X, formerly Twitter, after Prateek Sharma, the handle’s operator, approached the Delhi High Court for relief. Individual posts cited by the hitherto confidential blocking order remain blocked for users in India.

Editorial:On digital censorship

Facebook pages of comedian Rajeev Nigam, Dastak News, Molitics, and 4PM News, all independent outfits, have been taken down in recent weeks, along with several posts on Instagram and X. IT Ministry officials have not provided a direct explanation for these takedowns; earlier, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said there were “AI-generated” posts that merited this response. Few of the takedowns appeared to target AI-generated content.

Nikhil Pahwa, editor of the tech policy news site MediaNama, told Mr. Krishnan in the civil society meeting that “the government’s intent behind the IT Rules consultation is evident in the impact they are having — of mass censorship. This is an infrastructure for mass censorship.” 

Speaking to the press after both the meetings, Mr. Krishnan downplayed the potential impact of the amendment allowing the MIB to treat individual commentators the same as professional news organisations. While admitting that there was a “grey area” on what distinguishes an individual user sharing their perspective from dedicated current affairs commentators, Mr. Krishnan said the IT Ministry had “enough on our plate” and that for people outside the government, it made little difference who was sending takedown notices.