Journalist Challenges Copyright Strikes; Indian Digital Censorship Expands

April

2026

On 2 Apr, the Punjab and Haryana High Court (PHHC) issued a notice on a petition filed by independent journalist Rattandeep Singh Dhaliwal, who challenged the removal of his Facebook pages and the imposition of copyright strikes for using photographs of Panjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Dhaliwal's petition sought to set aside punitive actions taken against his Facebook pages and to reverse the intellectual property rights claims imposed on his accounts. Dhaliwal alleged that the copyright claims and punitive actions were a direct result of his disclosures regarding Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) alleged irregularities through interviews and field reports. The petition argues that routine journalistic references to a sitting Chief Minister, including the use of publicly available images, should not be treated as proprietary intellectual property. Dhaliwal says he approached Meta Platforms' internal appellate mechanisms, but the platform failed to provide reasoned responses and continued imposing restrictive actions, including further strikes and content suppression. The PHHC notice comes as a huge relief to independent media and Right to Information activists in Panjab who have been on the ruling AAP's target for the last few years. The next hearing in the case is on 27 Jul 2026. Meanwhile, commenting on how new Indian digital laws strengthen the safe harbor provision for digital platforms under Section 79, Information Technology Act (IT Act), founder of MediaNama Nikhil Pahwa and founder director of Internet Freedom Foundation Apar Gupta say, 'An infrastructure for mass censorship is already in place in India, and the new rules expand it.' Since February 2021, the IT Rules have been amended 7 times. Changes to Section 79 now mandate that social media posts must be blocked within 3 hours, leaving no scope to challenge them. The reasons for which speech and posts can be taken down keep expanding. Digital platforms don't react because they can lose market access in India. The Sahyog (cooperation) portal, which is used for takedowns, is a hotline from government bodies to platforms. When posts are censored, users receive no notice, even upon request or through Right to Information. The government—both the union and the states—is seeking personal data from social media users under Sections 70B, 69, and 75 of the IT Act, leading to self-censorship (earlier coverage).