Government authorities sought the removal of nearly 2.98 lakh URLs from social media and online platforms between March and July 2026. State governments accounted for more than four-fifths of the requests, while the figures have renewed attention on India’s faster content takedown rules.
Government departments and state authorities asked online platforms to remove nearly 2.98 lakh URLs in the five months between March and July 2026, with state governments accounting for the overwhelming majority of the requests, reports News18.
According to figures released by the government, around 2.44 lakh URLs — roughly 82 per cent of the total — were flagged by state governments. The remaining requests came from other authorities, including the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which separately identified about 51,000 URLs linked to cybercrime and other unlawful online activity.
The disclosures come after recent changes to India’s rules for online intermediaries significantly shortened the time available to platforms for responding to certain government takedown notices. The tighter deadlines have also drawn attention following reports concerning Meta’s use of automated systems to process removal requests.
State governments account for most takedown requests
The nearly 3 lakh URLs covered in the latest data were not flagged by a single central agency. Instead, the requests came from multiple government departments and state authorities using the mechanisms available for reporting unlawful content online.
State governments emerged as the largest source of such requests, accounting for more than four out of every five URLs submitted for removal during the period.
The I4C, which coordinates efforts against cybercrime, flagged around 51,000 URLs separately. The content identified by the agency was primarily connected with cybercrime, threats involving critical infrastructure and investment-related fraud.
The government has also pointed to the broader scale of activity on India’s social media platforms while explaining the volume of removal requests. India has an estimated 600 million social media users, and authorities said users collectively publish as many as 78,703 pieces of content every 68 seconds.
That scale, the government argues, makes monitoring and responding to unlawful material a continuing challenge.
What content is being flagged?
Over the past two years, the government’s cybercrime coordination system has encountered a range of harmful and illegal content, including cross-border financial scams, child sexual abuse material and offences targeting women and children.
However, the government has stressed that the latest figure of 2.98 lakh URLs should not be viewed solely as a measure of I4C activity. The five-month total includes requests raised by several authorised government bodies at both the Union and state levels.
The government has also sought to clarify how such takedown notices are issued through the Sahyog system, reports News18.
According to the report, government employees cannot independently submit removal requests at will. Only officers formally authorised by the relevant Union ministry or state government can initiate action against content considered unlawful. The authorities responsible for issuing those notices are also expected to review them periodically.
The safeguards are part of the government’s defence of the system amid wider questions over how quickly platforms are expected to act on official requests and the processes used to identify content for removal.
Faster takedown rules draw fresh scrutiny
The current debate follows amendments made to the Information Technology Intermediary Rules, 2021, in February. Under the revised framework, the response period for certain takedown directions was reduced from 36 hours to three hours.
The shorter window has since attracted scrutiny, particularly after reports suggested that Meta had been using automated systems to handle some government requests for content removal.
Responding to those reports, the PIB Fact Check unit said claims suggesting that the government had introduced a new API arrangement with Meta as part of the February amendments were misleading.
According to the government, the API integration was introduced in 2025 at Meta’s request and predated the changes to the intermediary rules.
The government has defended the broader takedown framework as a necessary tool for dealing with illegal material online, arguing that authorities have a responsibility to act against unlawful activity rather than allowing it to remain accessible without intervention.
The figures, however, underline the scale at which that system is now operating. With nearly three lakh URLs flagged in just five months and a substantially shorter compliance window for some notices, questions around platform accountability, due process and the practical use of automation are likely to remain part of the debate over how India regulates online content.
Click Here For The Original Source.
