Indian Railways issues seven takedown notices since December

The Indian Ministry of Railways has sent seven takedown notices to social media platforms since December. These notices target various videos related to train safety and incidents, such as overcrowded Maha Kumbh Special trains and train vandalism. Three of the notices were issued to X (formerly Twitter), YouTube/Google, and Facebook/Instagram. They are part of a legal dispute regarding the government's use of the Information Technology Act for content blocking. X claims that the notices violate free speech protections in the Constitution. Earlier notices included a directive to X for removing 285 links showing casualties from a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station. A recent email from the ministry requested the removal of tweets showing passengers boarding a train engine, which is illegal under the Railways Act. A random check of the content found that while some tweets have been taken down, others remain accessible. Notably, an NDTV tweet showing passengers locking themselves in a train cabin is still online. The ministry's efforts also targeted content depicting vandalism and dangerous behavior on trains. A February 12 notice accused several tweets of promoting violence and threatening national property. The ministry warned that such actions could disrupt Indian Railways operations. The latest notice, sent on February 21, addressed misleading videos claiming to show events from December 2024, stating they could provoke illegal activities. While some links have been removed, others are still viewable across the platforms.