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Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Excellentia

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India

Behind the “Unavailable in India” label: how posts get blocked

Government advisories, tighter takedown timelines and platform rules are all in play.

A social media app icon on a smartphone screen
File photo: Yuri Samoilov / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)

Users have recently noticed posts on social platforms carrying an "Unavailable in India" label while protests are under way. The Hindu's explainer traces this to several overlapping factors.

These include an advisory from the IT ministry (MeitY) to Meta, faster takedown deadlines under the amended IT Rules, and the platforms' own enforcement policies. Together they have drawn fresh attention to how content gets withheld in India, and to what users can do when their posts are blocked.

Read The Hindu's full explainer for the legal background.

Excellentia summary of reporting by The Hindu. Read the original for full details.