Political cartoonists across India are increasingly finding their work restricted on social media following legal requests from law enforcement — often without any clarity on the law invoked.

In recent months, at least three sets of cartoonists and one publication have faced restrictions citing requests from Haryana law enforcement or central authorities. In each instance, platforms said they were complying with local law. Though in none of the cases was the specific legal provision disclosed. 

There were other key questions that remained unanswered: whether the request targeted a specific post or entire accounts; whether platforms acted through automated systems or manual review; and which office formally initiated or routed the requests. Under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the government may block online content to protect sovereignty, defence, security of the state, or public order. But in these instances, there has been little transparency about the legal basis for the restrictions.

Modi-Trump cartoon leads to account restrictions

For cartoonist Gaurav Sarjerao, who has assignments in Mumbai and Pune, the restriction escalated from a single post to his entire Instagram account being made inaccessible in India. He is now exploring legal options.

Sarjerao, a freelance cartoonist and president of the Cartoonist Combine, has contributed cover illustrations to the Marathi weekly Marmik for five years. In July 2025, he created a cartoon featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump for the magazine’s cover. On August 1, 2025, he posted an animated version of it on Instagram. The video received 21 lakh views and was shared 1.5 lakh times.

In January this year, he received a notification that the post had been restricted in India following a “complaint from Haryana law enforcement”. Within hours, his entire account – which has over 36,000 followers – was restricted in India.

“Initially I sent repeated communication to Instagram and Meta but did not receive any response. Last week, in order to establish communication with Instagram officials, I purchased a blue tick and managed to speak to five representatives. All of them told me they could not remove the restriction. They said the restriction was imposed not on their own but because of the local law on the notice of the Indian government, specifically Haryana law enforcement. They told me that the account can only be restored if the Haryana law enforcement agency withdraws its notice.”

On January 28, Sarjerao wrote to Meta:

“Hello Meta team, My Instagram account has been restricted in India due to a legal request from Haryana law enforcement. I am a professional cartoonist and artist. My content consists of political satire and artistic expression without any intent to promote violence, hatred or unlawful activity.I have not received any legal notice, FIR or court order directly from any law enforcement authority. I respectfully request a review of this India only restriction.I am willing to remove or modify any content if required under local laws.”

After two unanswered emails, he bought a blue tick subscription to access Instagram chat support and spoke to representatives on five days this month.

He was told: “Gaurav, upon careful checking from my end please understand that we do not have authority or visibility to check this from our end. As for this, the best pathway for this is to kindly reach out to the Haryana law enforcement in India.”

Sarjerao says he still does not know which law applies.

“I am still unable to understand under which law they have restricted it. My post was not spreading any hate or misinformation, was vulgar or communal. It was a satirical cartoon and a cartoon has to have satire. I am looking forward to taking a legal course now because just on the basis of a cartoon they cannot restrict my Instagram account citing it as against the local law. I believe as of now there is no such law in our country.”

7 reels by Kolkata illustrators blocked

Two Kolkata-based illustrators who go by the pseudonyms Bob and Bobby also had seven Instagram reels restricted in India on January 28 following what the platform described as a legal request from Haryana law enforcement.

The reels seemed to mock PM Modi’s bond with Donald Trump, the controversy around the prime minister’s educational qualifications, the “vote chori” allegations, etc.

According to Bob, “each of these reels has around three million views on average”. “Political satire and cartoons have always been part of our democracy, as well as other democracies. Banning them is not fair…There is a lot of hate-propagating content circulating online, but instead of restricting that, humorous cartoon videos based on current events are being restricted. It’s unfair.”

Widening net

The action comes amid increased content monitoring. In the past two months, Haryana Police, working with the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has facilitated the removal of 1,616 social media posts deemed objectionable.

Senior cartoonist Satish Acharya says he has received several notifications over critical cartoons. On one occasion, Acharya said he received a notification from X stating that it had received a request from the Cyber Crime Department of the Mumbai Police. It was about a cartoon depicting arms of the state machinery forming a human chain around billionaire Gautam Adani with the caption “Ek hain to safe hain.” 

The cartoon stays up online but Acharya claimed that any cartoonist who creates cartoons “critical of the government or BJP leaders is subjected to such restrictions”. “I have been posting multiple cartoons on social media and have observed that, many times, their reach has been curtailed.”

Earlier this month, The Wire’s Instagram account was blocked in India for nearly two hours after the platform said it had complied with a legal request. Access was restored the same evening, but a parody animation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that appears to have triggered the action remains withheld in India on Instagram, Facebook and X.

In June 2025, Instagram blocked the satirical news and meme page Savala Vada in India after the platform said it received a legal request to restrict the page under local laws. At the time, Instagram did not specify which specific post violated the law.

On Monday, film critic and author Anna Vetticad posted on X that she had received a notification from the platform about a blocking order from the I-T ministry citing Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Vetticad had earlier shared a post from the BJP’s official handle about an Indian Youth Congress protest at an AI summit in Delhi. Responding to the post, she had written, “Why should a democratic protest embarrass India? Here is a list of things that do embarrass India, lynching of Muslims, assaults on Christians, persecution of Dalits, imprisonment and murder of activists and journalists, and hate speeches by members of the government.”

Newslaundry has reached out to the office of Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Haryana DGP Ajay Singhal and Meta. Their replies will be added to this report if they respond. 

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