India flags 2.98 lakh URLs for takedown between March and July

The surge in government-led content moderation comes as platforms face a three-hour compliance window for certain takedown notices, intensifying scrutiny over automated systems, cybercrime and online regulatory enforcement.

The Indian government flagged nearly 2.98 lakh URLs on social media platforms for removal between March and July 2026, according to data shared by PIB Fact Check. State governments accounted for more than 2.44 lakh URLs, making up over 82% of the total requests issued during the five-month period.

The remaining requests were raised by other government authorities and agencies, including the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). The notices were primarily associated with online material linked to cybercrime and other forms of unlawful activity.

The figures provide an indication of the growing scale of government intervention in online content moderation as India attempts to address cybercrime and illegal activity across social media platforms. With hundreds of millions of users generating content every day, authorities and platforms face the challenge of identifying potentially unlawful material while ensuring that legitimate online activity is not unnecessarily affected.

India has around 600 million social media users, according to the government. PIB Fact Check said users collectively generate as many as 78,703 pieces of content every 68 seconds, illustrating the scale of information that platforms need to process. Against such volumes, relying entirely on human moderators to assess every piece of content would be difficult.

Sahyog Portal facilitates government notices

The government’s takedown mechanism is facilitated through the Sahyog Portal, which allows authorised government departments to communicate notices concerning unlawful online content to internet intermediaries. Social media platforms are expected to act on requests issued by competent authorities rather than removing material solely because an individual government official has asked them to do so.

Only authorised ministries and state governments can submit takedown requests through the portal. The notices can also undergo periodic review by the respective government authorities.

Over the past two years, the government said content flagged through the cybercrime coordination mechanism has included transnational financial fraud, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and offences involving women and children. These categories highlight the types of online activity that authorities are seeking to address through coordinated content-removal mechanisms.

Three-hour deadline puts pressure on platforms

The latest figures come several months after amendments to India’s Information Technology Intermediary Rules, 2021, reduced the response period for certain government takedown notices. The earlier 36-hour window was reduced to three hours under the changes introduced in February.

The shorter compliance period has raised questions about how large social media platforms can process high volumes of government requests within such a limited timeframe. It has also triggered discussion around the use of automated systems to identify, process and potentially restrict content following government notices.

Reports concerning Meta’s use of automated mechanisms prompted the government’s fact-checking unit to clarify the nature of its technical arrangement with the company. PIB Fact Check said claims suggesting that an API integration between the government and Meta was introduced because of the February rule changes were misleading.

According to the government, the API integration was established in 2025 following a request from Meta, rather than being created as a consequence of the revised three-hour takedown requirement.

The government has defended its role in addressing unlawful online activity, arguing that authorities cannot allow illegal content to remain unchecked in cyberspace. At the same time, the scale of the latest figures underlines the operational challenge facing platforms as they balance government compliance, automated moderation and the need to process legitimate user content.

The 2.98 lakh URLs flagged during the five-month period therefore represent not just a measure of government takedown activity, but also the growing pressure on social media platforms to respond quickly to legally authorised requests under India’s evolving digital regulations.