DIGIPUB Calls for Transparency Following Social Media Bans on Media Outlets

New Delhi: The DIGIPUB News India Foundation on Tuesday expressed serious concern over what it described as a growing pattern of restrictions on freedom of expression, following a series of social media blocks affecting news organisations and independent media outlets.

In a statement, the foundation referred to events beginning on February 7, when digital news platform The Wire published a satirical animated cartoon questioning accountability in Parliament. Two days later, Meta temporarily blocked The Wire’s Instagram account for around two hours before restoring it, but continued to block access to the cartoon on the platform.

On February 10, the same cartoon was withheld on X in India. While X issued a written notice to The Wire, the foundation noted that Meta did not provide any formal communication. It added that no explanation had been offered by the government on how the cartoon violated existing laws.

During the same period, Instagram permanently disabled the accounts of Deshabhimani, a Malayalam daily, and No Cap, a Malayalam digital news portal, the statement said.

“Taken together, these measures do not appear incidental,” DIGIPUB News India said, arguing that the actions point to an emerging trend of constraining satire, critical journalism and dissent through opaque and unaccountable legal demands. Such practices, it said, undermine due process and democratic norms.

The foundation emphasised that freedom of speech, guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, is central to India’s democratic framework. “Satire and critical inquiry are not disruptions of democratic order; they are essential to its vitality,” the statement said.

DIGIPUB News India called for the immediate restoration of all blocked accounts and posts, greater transparency from both authorities and social media platforms on the legal basis for such actions, and stronger safeguards to protect press freedom, satire and independent journalism.