Cartooning for Peace reports on a new case of government censorship in India, a country that is rapidly climbing the"Humor in Distress" list.
Indian cartoonist Gaurav Sarjerao had his Instagram account (and a post) blocked in India following a request initiated by the Haryana state police. (Original account blocked in India/alternative account).
His account, 98% of whose followers are in India, now displays the messages "publication not available in India" and"user not available in India". The reason is this cartoon published on the cover of the political weekly Marmik in August 2025 and shared on his Instagram account, which has been viewed more than two million times. In it, Gaurav Sarjerao criticises Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's relationship with US President Donald Trump in the context of increased defence cooperation.
When asked by the cartoonist, the moderators of the digital platform simply spoke of their "policy of access restrictions in accordance with local legislation", without being able to specify the legal provision on which this restriction was based, and invited the cartoonist to contact the local police who had requested the blocking.
This internet censorship is part of a wider operation carried out by the Haryana state police in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The Print media reports that hundreds of posts and profiles were removed in a month as part of an operation targeting"objectionable, anti-national, anti-religious and misleading content". When questioned by the media, the police chief stated that"AI-generated content depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi with President Trump is among the content that has been removed, when the prime minister is portrayed in a negative light, as well as content involving other national leaders".
This operation is part of a new censorship mechanism that allows local officials to require social media platforms to remove certain posts. In October 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government launched the Sahyog platform. All digital platforms are obliged to adhere to this system, which extends the power to issue removal requests - previously reserved for two federal ministries - to all federal and state government agencies, district officials and the police.
According to local media reports, the Haryana state police are invoking section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, which stipulates that intermediaries (technology companies) will lose their immunity if they fail to remove illegal content at the government's request. Cartoonist for Peace notes that analysts agree that the authorities' aim is to circumvent Supreme Court rulings that have restricted the government's use of section 69 of the Information Technology Act to block content on the internet.
Gaurav Sarjerao, who had one of his posts and subsequently his entire Instagram account blocked, received no formal notification of the legal basis for this decision. News Laundry echoes the concerns of cartoonists in India, who are seeing their online posts increasingly restricted.
Cartooning for Peace is concerned about this new case of censorship, which once again illustrates the Indian authorities' desire to repress freedom of expression. Meta's policy of moderation "in the name of local law" is being used as a tool of repressive national legislation enacted by a government that fears humour.
Humour in trouble, a collection of cases
Cases of cartoonists who have had problems of some importance because of their cartoons or satirical illustrations. There are also some stories of other people who, without being cartoonists, have got into trouble for sharing them.
