Govt Advisory on Removing Content From Pakistan Is Sweeping Censorship, Doesn't Tackle Misinfo

The following is a statement released by the Internet Freedom Foundation on the advisory issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on May 8, 2025, ordering intermediaries to remove all content originating in Pakistan.

The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) mourns the lives lost in the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack and affirms that national security is a paramount constitutional duty, yet insists that security measures themselves must remain within constitutional limits.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s 8 May 2025 “advisory” ordering every OTT service, streaming platform and intermediary in India to remove all content “having its origins in Pakistan” exceeds those limits.

Advisory on content originating from Pakistan

In light of the Pahalgam terror attack, national security takes precedence. OTT platforms are hereby mandated to remove all content originating from Pakistan.#OperationSindoor #IndiaFightsPropaganda pic.twitter.com/fDBMWqLjBX

— Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (@MIB_India) May 8, 2025

This advisory calls for vague forms of censorship (“...are advised to discontinue…having its origins in Pakistan with immediate effect.”) that are obligated to be enforced privately by service providers such as OTT Platforms and Online intermediaries. It rests on no clear statutory footing given it expands the requirements under Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT Rules, 2021 and the Code of Ethics into de-facto executive fiat, and imposes an indiscriminate, origin-based embargo.

This offends the Supreme Court’s necessity-and-proportionality tests laid down in Shreya Singhal (2015) and Anuradha Bhasin (2020). Even otherwise, such origin based blocking is not possible or feasible given the technical nature of information where the residency of a server does not correspond to the nationality nor origin.

Here, its vaguely worded direction to “discontinue” any material originating in Pakistan may include — potentially everything from an Indian journalist’s interview with a Pakistani commentator to cross-border cultural programming such as joint concerts by Indian artists — and will result in over-compliance and self-censorship by private service providers, gutting the freedom of speech and liberty that sustains our democracy.

Given this we fear over-compliance and censorship, as the advisory offers neither notice nor a chance to contest takedowns. It also is not limited by itself to any period of time or event and hence is not temporary or emergent in nature, and acts as prior restraint without judicial oversight — conduct the Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down since the cases of Brij Bhushan (1950) and Sakal Papers (1962).

As an Indian non-profit that centres its work from the constitution of India and close to a decade-long record — from defending net neutrality, fighting against the illegal use of Section 66A and safeguards to censorship and mass surveillance, we urge the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to withdraw the advisory.

We understand the rampant threats of misinformation that may cause fear and disorder. Here we urge the Union government to support Indian journalists and fact checkers and issue content takedowns as a last resort. Any content-specific takedowns must proceed under clear legal grounds, publish the legal rationale so they can withstand constitutional scrutiny, establish an independent oversight mechanism for future national-security content actions, and consult creators, civil-society, industry and scholars before altering the speech landscape.

As Dr Ambedkar envisaged, safeguarding liberty of thought and expression is an act of constitutional patriotism. We call on the government to pursue security through necessary, proportionate and lawful measures rather than sweeping censorship, thereby honouring both the spirit and the letter of our country’s founding charter.

Apar Gupta is an advocate and the founder-director of the Internet Freedom Foundation.