Government agencies sent nearly 1.95 lakh blocking orders to Instagram, Facebook and YouTube between March and July 2026, according to data accessed by The Indian Express. The figure works out to around 1,275 orders every day, or roughly one blocking order every 68 seconds. The data points to a sharp increase compared with the previous year. Between October 2024 and October 2025, government agencies sent 2,312 blocking orders to 19 online platforms, averaging around six orders a day, according to the report.
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Instagram received the most orders.
According to the data accessed by The Indian Express, Instagram received nearly 1 lakh blocking orders during the five-month period.
Facebook received around 80,000, while YouTube received nearly 15,000.
Together, Instagram and Facebook accounted for around 90% of the blocking orders sent to the three platforms.
However, the figures refer to blocking orders and not necessarily individual posts.
A single blocking order can cover hundreds of posts, accounts or pieces of content.
Orders routed through Sahyog portal
Most of the directions were routed through the Union Home Ministry’s Sahyog portal.
The portal allows government and law-enforcement agencies to send notices to online intermediaries regarding content they want blocked.
The government’s stated purpose for the system is to address unlawful content online.
The data reported by The Indian Express covers the period from March to July 2026.
Content linked to protests and other issues
The period also coincided with student protests over alleged examination irregularities.
According to reports cited in the coverage, some content linked to the protests was among the material users said had been affected.
The reported examples also included criticism related to the government’s ethanol-blending policy and material connected to the West Bengal elections.
The coverage also referred to action involving deepfakes and other content.
These examples do not establish that all of the blocking orders concerned political criticism. The reported data covers government blocking directions across platforms and types of content.
Meta’s integration with Sahyog
Meta has also integrated its systems with the Sahyog portal. According to an investigative report by The Indian Express, the integration allows certain government takedown requests to be processed automatically.
The development has drawn questions from digital-rights advocates over the role of human review in the process.
The latest figures therefore put the scale of government blocking requests to social media platforms in focus, with nearly 1.95 lakh orders recorded across Instagram, Facebook and YouTube in just five months.