‘Legal requirements’, no authority named: What Instagram told a comedian about her blocked reel

Instagram restricted stand-up comedian Kajol Srinivasan’s reel in India. Instagram subsequently restored the reel before restricting it again, according to posts Srinivasan shared on X on October 25. Screenshots shared by Srinivasan show that Instagram’s notices cited ‘Indian legal requirements’ without identifying the specific law or authority behind the restrictions. She said that the reel became unavailable in India within minutes of her posting it. The reel was about AI being used by someone to summon the dead.

Neither the legal provision used nor the authorities behind the request were mentioned in the notices she shared. MediaNama has previously reported similar gaps in transparency surrounding restrictions on cartoonist Satish Acharya’s Instagram account and journalists’ reels.

What did Instagram tell her?

The notices on Instagram mentioned the following:

• About the restrictions: Instagram initially said an automated system implemented to comply with India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, had restricted access to her reel.
• About the restoration: Instagram subsequently restored access to the reel in India. Another notice said the government request or local legal requirement behind the restriction had expired or been reversed.
• About the second restriction: Sometime after Srinivasan joked that democracy had been restored, Instagram restricted the reel again.

MediaNama has not yet been able to independently confirm whether the reel is currently available in India or not.

Why is the information behind the notice not available?

Instagram’s restriction notices in India have cited different legal mechanisms.

For restrictions on Acharya’s cartoons, two notices cited “a notice from the Government of India / Law Enforcement under Section 79(3)(b)” of the Information Technology Act. In contrast, two others pointed only to “an automated system implemented pursuant to legal requirements”, as examined by MediaNama.

These legal mechanisms operate differently.

• Section 69A allows the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to use a committee process under the 2009 Blocking Rules for ordering a platform to block content.
• Section 79(3)(b) allows the “appropriate Government or its agency” to highlight unlawful content to platforms such that the platform needs to act on it or lose its legal immunity.

MediaNama previously reported that Instagram restricted journalists’ reels, including content about Google’s data centre in Andhra Pradesh, following notices issued through the government’s Sahyog portal under Section 79(3)(b).

The notices about restoration also do not always match what happens. When the reel about Google’s Visakhapatnam data centre was restored after 111 days, Instagram’s “decision” panel mentioned that the original restriction notice had ended on May 22 itself, which was the day it began, MediaNama reported.

What MediaNama has asked

Questions sent to Meta:

• Whether the reel was restricted following a government or law-enforcement request, and if so, which authority sent it and under which legal provision
• Whether the restriction was applied automatically, and what triggered the restoration
• Whether Instagram received a fresh request before restricting the reel again, or whether another system restricted it
• What information Meta is permitted to share with a creator about such a request, and whether Srinivasan was sent any

Questions sent to MeitY:

• Whether MeitY or any other government authority issued a request concerning the reel, and under which legal provision

MediaNama has also reached out to Srinivasan. This story will be updated if responses are received.

Also read:

• Satish Acharya’s Instagram withheld under Section 79, a route already before the Supreme Court
• An “automated system” restricted Satish Acharya’s Instagram posts. Then the account went

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