Kerala Police Cites ECI's 'Insult,' 'Communal Harmony' as it Asks X to Take Down Posts on Letter With BJP Symbol
New Delhi: The Kerala Police appears to have asked the social media platform X to take down several posts on the Election Commission of India's letter to political parties which had the seal of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kerala unit, a day after it sparked uproar. Police have claimed that the posts "blatantly insult" the ECI, which it called a "respected national institution," and curiously, propagates "content that undermines communal harmony."
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) posted the letter on X a day ago. Dated March 2019, it dealt with the poll body’s guidelines on the publicity of criminal antecedents by political parties. Notably, it featured the BJP's party symbol prominently. After it was shared multiple times, Kerala’s chief electoral officer posted a note in reply and called the presence of the party symbol "purely a clerical error". The CEO's handle wrote that the official dealing with the release of this letter was suspended pending an inquiry.
There was thus quite a lot of surprise when users received a subsequent notice from X saying that it received intimation from the Kerala Police to remove certain posts carrying this letter with the "clerical error" in it.
"As X strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of our users, it is our policy to notify our users if we receive a request from a law enforcement or a government agency to remove content from their account," the email from X, which users like journalist Piyush Rai received, read.
Takedown notices have become an important arm of Indian policing on social media. This is a blatant misuse of the law being put in force to intimidate users. Hope @elonmusk and @XCorpIndia take note of this. https://t.co/r1pFeSlYPq pic.twitter.com/1HsBO2wiYd
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) March 24, 2026
Congress leader Ruchira Chaturvedi, who also got an email from X on the notice it received, said “Takedown notices have become a routine weapon to censor social media. According to Kerala Police, my tweet insults the Election Commission and propagates content that undermines communal harmony.”
It is unclear why the police felt that the posts on its "clerical error" would propagate content which would harm communal harmony, unless it believed that the mere invocation of BJP in connection with the ECI would lead to disharmony.
While X has not taken down the posts yet, the Kerala Police's action drew scrutiny as many pointed to the charged wording of its notice to X.
Rashtriya Janata Dal national spokesperson Priyanka Bharti shared the notice signed by Inspector of Police (Cyber Operations) Binoj S. and said, “My eyes opened in the morning to their love letter!”
The notice was issued under the contentious section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000, and section 3(1)(d) of the IT rules, 2021. The former removes protection for intermediaries like X if they fail to remove or disable access to content after having been notified by a government agency. The latter mandates that online intermediaries remove or disable access to content within 36 hours of receiving "actual knowledge," either via a court order or notification from an authorised government agency.
Citing 10 posts on X, the Kerala Police wrote that the X post "blatantly insults the Election Commission of India and propagates content that undermines communal harmony. The post in question is not only a direct affront to a respected national institution but also poses a serious threat to public order by inciting division and hostility."
Journalist Aravind Gunasekar was among those who asked why the move was being made after the Kerala CEO had already admitted that this was a "clerical error".
Why is the ECI through Kerala CEO issuing notice under Sec 79(3)(b) of the IT Act to @X to remove posts containing the letter released by them ?
Didn’t ECI admit the letter to be a ‘clerical error’ ?
Shouldn’t journalists have the right to report the ‘clerical error’ ?
Why… https://t.co/OLEkHNJW5h pic.twitter.com/rPO6UKmvOr
— Arvind Gunasekar (@arvindgunasekar) March 24, 2026
In subsequent paragraphs, the Kerala Police has noted that the continued circulation of the letter undermines the integrity of the ECI:
"Further, there is an urgent need for the immediate removal of all digital content featuring a superseded 2019 document that inadvertently contained a political party’s seal due to a clerical error, which has since been rectified. The continued circulation of this retracted material is being used to spread false allegations, thereby undermining the integrity and transparency of the Election Commission. Such misinformation poses a grave threat to public order, as it has the potential to incite division and hostility among supporters of different political parties, possibly leading to serious law and order issues across the state. To prevent further harm to the electoral process and to ensure communal harmony, all media outlets and digital platforms are hereby directed to cease the distribution of this erroneous document and remove it immediately from their archives and social media accounts."
Police in Kerala is under the aegis of the state government, run by the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which is in opposition to the BJP at the Centre. However, officers and personnel from state police and the paramilitary forces deployed for election duty are under the superintendence, direction and control of the ECI.
Congress, in opposition to the Left Front in pollbound Kerala, has claimed that this police notice is proof of "BJP-LDF collusion"
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐉𝐏-𝐋𝐃𝐅 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Kerala Police notices sent at the behest of BJP’s puppet, the Election Commission
Notice has been sent for posting ECI’s letter with BJP’s seal
Instead of being ashamed about murdering democracy, people are being threatened! pic.twitter.com/bdKCUlv2aS
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) March 24, 2026
"You can’t call something a "clerical error" in the morning and then move to censor discussion about it by evening. That’s not damage control, it’s damage confirmation," wrote former IAS officer Sasikant Senthil.
This article went live on March twenty-fourth, two thousand twenty six, at twelve minutes past three in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
