Indian cartoonist blocked on Instagram again as government orders spike

Satish Acharya, a 55-year-old Indian cartoonist, found his Instagram profile inaccessible to users in India for the second time in three weeks. The restriction began Tuesday and lasted three days. During this period, people in the country could not locate his account through search or direct web links. A message indicated the profile was unavailable under the country's Information Technology Rules.

Acharya's account had previously been blocked from September 28 to October 6. He stated that he contacted Meta, the parent company of Instagram, but received no reply. He was preparing to file a lawsuit when access was restored in early October. The second block occurred earlier this week. Meta told the BBC that it may temporarily restrict accounts to comply with India's IT Rules. The company did not specify the reasons for blocking Acharya's profile or a recent post by another cartoonist, Manjul.

Manjul's Instagram post was restricted a few weeks ago. The post criticized India's election commission regarding its revision of voter rolls. That revision removed 130 million names from the list. Acharya noted that Meta platforms have limited the reach of his cartoons for years. He said he felt sad when his entire profile was restricted. He added that he never faced official restrictions on his work during previous governments, although some trolling occurred.

Government agencies sent nearly 195,000 blocking and content-restriction orders to platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube between March and July. These figures come from the federal government's Sahyog portal and were obtained through a right-to-information request. The data does not indicate how many posts were actually removed or restricted. Prateek Waghre, a technology policy expert, observed that Meta appears more willing to comply with these orders than X. He noted that limited public data makes broader comparisons difficult.

Authorities recently asked Meta to ensure its recommendation systems do not steer users toward a single set of narratives. Officials also requested stronger checks on content that could cause public disorder. The BBC sought comment from India's IT ministry regarding these instructions and the specific restrictions but did not receive a response. Critics argue that the increased use of legal orders stifles political satire, which has played a visible role in recent dissent, including protests over education and jobs in July.

Sandep Adhwaryu, a cartoonist for a leading Indian newspaper, described the profession as a default opposition. He stated that the nature of the craft is to oppose those in power. Acharya agreed, noting that much of his current satire targets the Bharatiya Janata Party government. He had previously targeted Congress-led governments before 2014. Independent cartoonists like Manjul and Rachita Taneja rely on social media to reach audiences without traditional newspaper affiliations. Taneja, creator of the Sanitary Panels comic, described social media as a double-edged sword because it is a for-profit endeavor that answers to advertisers.