New Delhi: When Instagram on Friday (July 31) complied with government orders and withheld an Instagram post by The Wire Hindi containing Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh’s remarks in parliament, it marked only the latest of a string of takedowns targeting The Wire‘s social media handles this year.

Starting in February but doing so more frequently since last month, Facebook, Instagram and X have withheld for Indian audiences at least 17 posts created by The Wire and The Wire Hindi in line with government orders.

Some of these posts contain cartoons critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose circulation also prompted Instagram to block The Wire‘s account itself for almost two hours.

Other topics that this withheld content deals with include the US government’s indictment against gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, the government’s censorship of the film Satluj and Kashmiri pellet gun victims’ criticism of the way Chauhaan proposes to treat the baggage surrounding the weapon.

A number of notices that these platforms sent to The Wire cite the 2021 IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, which enable operation of section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, to enforce which the government runs its controversial Sahyog portal. These occur alongside the authorities’ move to withhold sundry posts by various other users lampooning the government.

Below is a compilation in reverse chronological order of the 17 posts that social media platforms withheld from Indian audiences, and one additional post that has been rendered inaccessible even outside India for unclear reasons.

August 1: Jantar Mantar protest art

The Wire‘s video report on how graffiti artists helped keep alive the youth protests against the Modi government at Jantar Mantar Road was shared on Facebook but this is not accessible in and out of India anymore. Unlike other posts that indicate Facebook withheld the content in compliance with official orders, this one says its non-availability “may be because of a technical error that we’re working to fix”. The report remains available on Instagram, X and YouTube.

July 31: Sanjay Singh’s remarks in the Rajya Sabha

The Wire Hindi‘s Instagram post containing a snippet from Aam Aadmi Party MP Singh’s remarks in the Rajya Sabha the previous day has been withheld in India in compliance with the 2021 Rules, even as the video concerned is merely a clipping from public broadcaster Sansad TV’s publicly available........

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