Govt's online content blocking orders double to 24,000 in a year, over half on X

📌 Summary:

• MeitY's (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) content blocking orders have doubled in a year, from ~12,600 in 2024 to ~24,300 in 2025 (both figures up to December)

• Historical trend: In 2023, Parliament was informed of an average of 6,000 blocking orders per year; the surge represents a 4x increase in just two years

• Platform distribution: ~60% of blocking orders target X (formerly Twitter); ~25% target Facebook and Instagram; ~5% target YouTube

• Blocking orders peaked sharply during Operation Sindoor (May 2025) and have remained "very high" since -- signalling a direct link between national security events and content censorship

• Government officials attribute the surge to: (1) deepfakes on social media; (2) objectionable AI-generated content; (3) content deemed prejudicial to national security or public order

• Legal basis: Section 69A of the IT Act empowers the government to block online content on grounds of national security, public order, sovereignty, etc. -- orders are issued without requiring court involvement

• Transparency concern: Blocking orders under 69A are confidential; platforms and users are not always informed of reasons, raising due process concerns

• Government is also considering cutting the blocking timeline from 2-3 hours to 1 hour, tightening the process further

• UPSC relevance: Intersection of IT Act, digital governance, free speech vs national security, and social media regulation