SRINAGAR: The verified Facebook and Instagram pages of Kashmir Life became inaccessible in India on Monday afternoon after Meta restricted access at the request of law enforcement authorities.
Reports of the page’s inaccessibility began reaching the newsroom around 4:30 pm, when readers from across the country said they were unable to view the publication’s Facebook page. There had been no prior public notice or communication before access was blocked.
Subsequently, Meta put an auto response to the page suggesting that it had restricted access to the content in India “pursuant to a notice from ‘The Government of India V Law Enforcement’ under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.” The communication advised the organisation to contact the issuing authority for further information and stated that details regarding content restrictions based on local law are available through Meta’s Transparency Centre.
Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, empowers authorities to require intermediaries to disable access to content upon receiving actual knowledge through a court order or government notification.
On Instagram, where Kashmir Life also maintains a presence, a notice displayed on the platform reads: “We received a legal request to restrict this content. We reviewed it against our policies and conducted a legal and human rights assessment. After the review, we restricted access to the content in the location where it goes against local law.”
Founded in 2009, Kashmir Life operates a 24×7 news website and publishes a weekend magazine focused on Jammu and Kashmir. Its verified Facebook page has approximately 1.8 million followers, the majority based in India, and functions as a principal distribution channel for news updates and reader engagement. The Instagram account has almost 200 thousand followers.
Kashmir Life is a professionally managed organisation that has been in operation for 17 years. It upholds the highest standards of journalism and is a major responsible media outlet operating in Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir Life newsroom has ensured that it does not violate, even by mistake, the law of the land or the community guidelines set by Meta and other social media platforms.
The organisation has written to Meta seeking detailed clarification regarding the specific grounds, scope, and duration of the restriction, as well as the procedural options available for review or redressal. It has also taken up the matter with the concerned authorities in the government, seeking clarity on the circumstances that led to the issuance of the notice.
At the time of filing this report, no further details were available regarding the precise content cited in the notice, the duration of the restriction, or any applicable legal proceedings.
