Govt's online content blocking orders double to 24,000 in a year, over half on X, Pg1

Key Highlights:

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) doubled its online content blocking orders to 24,300 in 2025.
• Approximately 60% of blocking orders targeted content on X (formerly Twitter), 25% on Facebook and Instagram, and 5% on YouTube.
• The increase is attributed to the rise of deep fakes, objectionable posts, and AI-generated content.
• Blocking requests peaked during Operation Sindoor in May 2025, with most requests coming from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs.
• Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000 empowers the government to block public access to computer resources.

Detailed Insights:

• The Blocking Committee, headed by a Designated Officer from MeitY, includes representatives from various ministries and CERT-In.
• The committee convenes virtually multiple times a week, involving representatives from social media companies like Meta and XAI.
• Section 69A includes an emergency clause allowing urgent blocking orders to be issued and approved by the committee within 48 hours.
• The government is considering allowing the Ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Defence, and Information and Broadcasting to issue blocking orders under Section 69A.
• Politicians, including Shashi Tharoor, have complained about fake social media posts and deep fake videos, leading to blocking requests.
• The blocking orders are issued to maintain the country’s sovereignty, security, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, and to investigate offences.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Deep Fake: AI-generated media that convincingly replaces one person's likeness with another.
• Section 69A: Provision in the IT Act 2000 empowering the government to block online content.
• CERT-In: National agency responsible for responding to computer security incidents.