India seeks takedown of nearly 3 lakh social media posts between March and July
As per PIB, all takedown content was linked to cybercrime and other unlawful online activity.
- Aug 21, 2026,
- Updated Aug 21, 2026 10:33 AM IST
The Indian government flagged 2.98 lakh URLs from social media platforms between March and July 2026 and ordered their takedown. Among the figures, over 82% of the content was flagged by the state governments, accounting for over 2.44 lakh URLs, as per PIB Fact Check.
The remaining content was flagged by other authorities, including the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), all linked to cybercrime and other unlawful online activity. The figures were revealed after India revised its rules for online intermediaries, reducing the time social media platforms have to act on government takedown orders from 36 hours to three hours.
The time reduction has raised concerns over how Meta may be using automated content-blocking systems to meet the three-hour deadline.
What 3 Lakh social media content was banned?
According to PIB Fact Check, Meta has about 600 million users in India, which means the country collectively generates a huge volume of content, which goes up to 78,703 pieces of content every 68 seconds. Due to the reason, it is difficult for human moderators to review everything manually.
“It is reasonable to expect that, on average, one of these items may not be lawful. The State and its instrumentalities cannot abdicate their responsibilities and allow free rein to lawlessness in cyberspace,” the government said.
It was revealed that over the past two years, most unlawful content flagged by I4C involved transnational financial fraud, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and offences against women and children. The content flagging is facilitated through the Sahyog Portal, which allows state governments and central ministries to send intimations about unlawful content to internet intermediaries.
Must read: Supreme Court flags social media platforms over POCSO reporting compliance, seeks Centre’s response
However, social media platforms are not supposed to remove content based on anyone from the government asked them to. They are expected to act on takedown notices issued by authorised government authorities. Only the relevant ministry or state government can send takedown requests through Sahyog. In addition, the takedown notices are also periodically reviewed by the respective ministries or state governments.
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The Indian government flagged 2.98 lakh URLs from social media platforms between March and July 2026 and ordered their takedown. Among the figures, over 82% of the content was flagged by the state governments, accounting for over 2.44 lakh URLs, as per PIB Fact Check.
The remaining content was flagged by other authorities, including the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), all linked to cybercrime and other unlawful online activity. The figures were revealed after India revised its rules for online intermediaries, reducing the time social media platforms have to act on government takedown orders from 36 hours to three hours.
The time reduction has raised concerns over how Meta may be using automated content-blocking systems to meet the three-hour deadline.
What 3 Lakh social media content was banned?
According to PIB Fact Check, Meta has about 600 million users in India, which means the country collectively generates a huge volume of content, which goes up to 78,703 pieces of content every 68 seconds. Due to the reason, it is difficult for human moderators to review everything manually.
“It is reasonable to expect that, on average, one of these items may not be lawful. The State and its instrumentalities cannot abdicate their responsibilities and allow free rein to lawlessness in cyberspace,” the government said.
It was revealed that over the past two years, most unlawful content flagged by I4C involved transnational financial fraud, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and offences against women and children. The content flagging is facilitated through the Sahyog Portal, which allows state governments and central ministries to send intimations about unlawful content to internet intermediaries.
Must read: Supreme Court flags social media platforms over POCSO reporting compliance, seeks Centre’s response
However, social media platforms are not supposed to remove content based on anyone from the government asked them to. They are expected to act on takedown notices issued by authorised government authorities. Only the relevant ministry or state government can send takedown requests through Sahyog. In addition, the takedown notices are also periodically reviewed by the respective ministries or state governments.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine