The Instagram accounts of three independent journalists — Bindu Gurjar, Lokbhadra Singh, and Monika Singh — were reportedly suspended earlier this month after they reported extensively on the deaths of tribal children in Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat district, and raised questioned about the discrepancies in the government claims surrounding the death.

While Bindu and Monika’s accounts were initially restored after they appealed to Meta, last week, both the accounts were permanently disabled by Instagram. Lokbhadra’s account remained suspended throughout and he was compelled to open a backup account.

Another independent journalist, Saurabh Bhati, who runs a page on Instagram with Monika called The Unsalted, temporarily deactivated that page as well as his personal account as a precautionary measure, after observing the repeated suspensions faced by the other three journalists. The two accounts were later reactivated.

Speaking to Alt News, all three journalists narrated how they were subjected to surveillance, followed by plainclothes personnel, questioned about their movements and pressured through hotel authorities and local intermediaries, creating an intimidating environment that ultimately forced them to leave Balaghat.

Sudden suspension, eventual deletion

Narrating her ordeal, Bindu said that her account was the first to be targeted — on September 5, a copyright strike was issued against her ground report from the Balaghat district hospital, even though it was entirely her original reporting. The following day, on September 6, she received alerts on her phone indicating attempts to log into her account from three different locations. Her account was eventually suspended around 2:30 pm. She initially tried to verify her identity using her Aadhaar card to regain access to her account but was unsuccessful. On September 7, the option to use the PAN card became available, and using this she managed to restore her account around 10:00 am.

However, 11 days after she regained access, Bindu’s account was permanently disabled by Instagram on September 18. She received a notification that she no longer had access to her account, and all her information had been permanently deleted. “You cannot request another review of this decision,” it stated. The account did not follow community standards on account integrity, the notice said. She has now opened a backup account.

A few hours later on September 6, Monika’s account was also suspended twice, but on each occasion, it was restored following an appeal.

However, the account was also permanently disabled with a similar notice on September 20.

Lokbhadra’s account, which had the highest number of followers among the three, was suspended multiple times. Speaking to Alt News, he said the first suspension came at 5:47 pm on September 6. The handle was restored within 30 minutes after an appeal was filed at 10:30 pm. His account was suspended again on September 7 and 8, and for a fourth time around 11 pm on September 9. He said that he did not appeal anymore as cyber experts advised that this could be the work of hackers who might launch another attack immediately upon an appeal. His account remains suspended as of September 23. 

The reasons cited by Meta for suspending these journalists’ accounts were identical. It was stated that the account or the activity associated with it did not follow the platform’s “Community Standards on account integrity”. This includes creating an account that impersonates another person, using another person’s photos to deceive others, or generating content that purports to speak on behalf of another individual.

In a statement released on September 8, the Press Club of India condemned the suspension of these journalists’ accounts, demanding an impartial investigation and describing the move as an attempt to intimidate or silence them.

What were these scribes reporting?

Reports of children dying from fever, rashes, or other symptoms began emerging from the tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat district between June and July. Most of the deceased children belonged to the Baiga community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). Additionally, some children were from Gond families residing in villages nestled deep within dense forests, located nearly 150 kilometres away from the district headquarters.

The government initially reported an official death toll of only eight children. However, by August, locals, tribal organisations and the opposition began claiming the figure was much higher, ranging from 24 to 30 child deaths. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi raised the issue. Umang Singhar, the Leader of the Opposition in........

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