During the ongoing parliamentary session, minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar unveiled startling figures concerning the government’s directives to major social media platforms for content deletion, modification, or blocking under the Information Technology Act, 2000. Revealing a significant volume of orders issued over the last five years, Chandrasekhar highlighted the magnitude of government interventions aimed at ensuring national security, safeguarding public order, and maintaining sovereignty and integrity.
The statistics, as disclosed by the minister, outlined the substantial number of directions specifically targeted at platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X-Corp), YouTube, and others.
2018
- Facebook: 1,555
- Instagram: 379
- Twitter (X-Corp): 224
- YouTube: 161
- Others: 480
- Total: 2,799
2019
- Facebook: 2,049
- Instagram: 75
- Twitter (X-Corp): 1,041
- YouTube: 409
- Others: 61
- Total: 3,635
2020
- Facebook: 1,717
- Instagram: 1,273
- Twitter (X-Corp): 2,731
- YouTube: 2,175
- Others: 1,953
- Total: 9,849
2021
- Facebook: 1,082
- Instagram: 464
- Twitter (X-Corp): 2,851
- YouTube: 1,141
- Others: 580
- Total: 6,118
2022
- Facebook: 1,750
- Instagram: 359
- Twitter (X-Corp): 3,423
- YouTube: 939
- Others: 464
- Total: 6,935
2023
- Facebook: 2,044
- Instagram: 473
- Twitter (X-Corp): 3,390
- YouTube: 934
- Others: 661
- Total: 7,502
Furthermore, regarding the rampant circulation of pornographic and violent content, including Child Sex Abuse Material (CSAM) on various platforms, the minister highlighted the government’s zero-tolerance policy towards such cybercrime.
He said: “The government has issued notice to various social media intermediaries including Telegram, YouTube, and X, to remove or disable access to all such CSAM and groups circulating such material.”
As per Chandrasekhar, the government has also asked the platforms to implement proactive measures, such as content moderation algorithms and reporting mechanisms, to prevent further dissemination of CSAM.
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