Reel-ing in Criticism? The Wire’s Post Featuring Opposition MP’s Parliament Speech Gets Censored in India

A reel, which is part of a speech by AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh, has been censored on The Wire’s Hindi Instagram account. Opposition MP Sanjay Singh’s speech, highlighting how the Modi government’s education policies are so bad that are driving people to remain “anpadh” (uneducated), to ensure they remain or mutate into ”andhbhakts” (undiscerning and thoughtless devotees of the present regime).

The Wire received communication from Meta’s Instagram just an hour after posting the reel on Instagram, that the post was now “unavailable in India.” The message reads, “we restricted access to this content through an automated system implemented pursuant to our legal requirements under India’s IT Rules”.

The government of India has been on overdrive to not only paint over the walls of Jantar Mantar but scotch any content, news or opinion online, that is sharp or critical of the government but especially of the prime minister.

It is noteworthy that words spoken by a member of the House of Elders, the Rajya Sabha, is being erased off platforms citing the contentious IT Rules. The Wire has reported earlier on the Sahyog portal, hosted by the Ministry of Home Affairs to be able to pursue social media content at scale. The words, “automated system” make it obvious that no deliberation has gone into the making of this decision.

No other reasons have been cited for why the post has been taken down.

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