Inside Instagram’s surge in content restrictions
Deputy Commissioner of Police for Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO), Gaurav Tyagi, acknowledged that Delhi Police had sent notices to remove content on social media. He said, “Several requests have been sent by the Delhi Police to Meta for removing content which was illegal under the BNSS in the last month.”
What legal remedies do affected users have?
Advocate Krishnesh Bapat of the Delhi High Court said users whose content is removed through Meta’s internal mechanisms can approach the platform’s grievance officer under the Information Technology Rules, 2021. And if they are dissatisfied with the decision, they can appeal to the government’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC).
However, Bapat questioned the independence of these mechanisms.
“Initially, you are approaching the very entity that took down your content. Then, at the appellate stage, you may be approaching a body constituted by the government, which you might have been criticising in the first place. So, there is no truly independent redressal mechanism under this statutory process,” he said.
Recourse through the courts is also limited. On October 29, the Delhi High Court that Meta’s suspension of Instagram accounts cannot be challenged through a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, observing that merely providing a social media platform does not amount to performing a public duty.
The ruling came in a petition filed by Sarthak Bhagat, whose Instagram accounts had been disabled without prior notice. The court directed the GAC to decide his pending appeal expeditiously, rather than intervening.
Bapat said, “Reasonable restrictions on speech, as envisaged under Article 19, require the application of mind. There must be a human being assessing the content before imposing any restriction, even when the restriction is being imposed by a private entity on its platform.”
Despite acknowledging the need for automated moderation, particularly in cases involving child sexual abuse material, he alleges recent takedowns and restrictions enforced by Meta happened without adequate consideration of context.
Bapat said, “When you are taking down or restricting an entire account, you are not merely restricting one particular piece of speech that you have an issue with. You are taking down everything the person has ever said and restricting their ability to express themselves in the future.”
Newslaundry has reached out to Meta for a response on the content restrictions and takedowns, and the story will be updated once a response is received.
Update, October 31: Geetanjali Dubey’s Instagram account, which was restricted in India on October 23, was restored on the night of October 30. This report has been updated to reflect this.
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