Barricades installed outside the Election Commission of India’s office as part of heightened security arrangements by Delhi Police on October 9, 2026
| Photo Credit: PTI
As authorities gear up to tackle Saturday’s (October 10, 2026) protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar, the capital is set to face stringent curbs on communication.
The Delhi Police have imposed a 24-hour Internet shutdown around the protest site from 10 p.m. on Friday (October 9), while the Information Technology Ministry has urged social media platforms to quickly take down content referred to them by government Ministries and departments.
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The Internet shutdown order will be in effect in a four-kilometre radius of the Janpath-Kartavya Path intersection, according to a notification by the Special Cell. The shutdown, an extraordinary measure in the national capital, was also imposed during the Gen-Z protests in July.
The IT Ministry’s advisory, on the other hand, urges social media platforms to limit the reach of content “likely to cause public disorder or incite the commission of a cognisable offence relating to public order”. The order further told them to “accord priority to reports/complaints received from authorised government agencies regarding content having potential implications for public order, and take appropriate action in accordance with applicable law.”
The advisory indicates a further ramping up of censorship of posts on Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, both of which have been complying automatically with non-binding takedown notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 over the last few months.
Censorship of anti-establishment content, including satirical posts and dissenting videos, has been increasing since February, when the IT Ministry reduced the time limit to lose the so-called safe harbour against legal action for keeping such posts online, from over a day to just one to three hours.
Published – October 09, 2026 09:47 pm IST
