Is India fighting an algorithm-fuelled 'revolution'? What Information Ministry's directives and actions on Meta, other social media platforms means

India appears to be fighting an algorithm-fuelled 'revolution'. Social media feeds of even politically neutral people are allegedly being filled with posts, images and videos of the recent protests led by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and opposition political groups. The government has sprung into action, with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) having issued a content advisory to social media giant Meta - which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - amid protests in Delhi against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The advisory dated October 10, the day of the CJP's protest in Delhi, became public through media reports on Sunday (Oct 18).

What the government is telling social media

Meta has been told to review its content recommendation systems to avoid public confusion and disorder. The government accused Meta of prominently displaying content related to law-and-order situations. It noted that such content is being "recommended" via Meta's feeds and recommendation systems, often without adequate context or with disproportionate amplification. The government said this "may contribute to public confusion, apprehension and disturbance of public order and social tranquillity."

How misinformation is being spread on social media

During the recent protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, visuals from earlier and unrelated protests were shared as current events. Unverified or misleading claims about emergency declarations, restrictions, police action, or other official measures were shared by unverified handles Meta's platforms as well as X and YouTube. Audio-visual material on law-and-order situations was presented without context. The ministry said such content could incite violence or unlawful activities.

Meta was told to provide adequate context for photos, videos and graphics of ongoing public events, such as their authenticity, date, location and circumstances. The platform was asked to prevent "disproportionate exposure of users to a single or limited set of narratives", and instead to provide an appropriate diversity of relevant and credible information. It was asked to identify amplified content that could cause confusion, violence or disorder.

The platform was told to report the measures taken to the ministry, and to cooperate with law enforcement agencies within the timelines laid down in the Information Technology (IT) Rules of 2021.

The labelling of AI-generated content as synthetic and prioritising content from authorised government agencies were part of an earlier advisory MeitY sent to all major social media platforms on October 8, two days before the CJP's October 10 protest at Jantar Mantar, for which Delhi Police had denied permission. While the October 8 advisory dealt with what content can go on all social media, the October 10 advisory went only to Meta and dealt with how its algorithms spread content.

Critics call it censorship, supporters call it part of law enforcement

Digital rights groups such as the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) criticised the Meta-specific advisory as a pressure-inducing censorship that could lead to the proactive restriction of protest-related reporting without formal legal orders. IFF founding director Apar Gupta told PTI news agency that the advisory is not legally binding but amounts to a "continuing censorship directive". He said MeitY should withdraw it while Meta should publicly disclose every takedown and downranking carried out under it.

MeitY has said the advisory respects lawful expression and legitimate public discourse. The government and Delhi Police had already pressed social media platforms on deepfakes, misinformation and amplification, including through meetings with their executives and takedown requests. Ahead of the October 10 protest, Delhi Police's cybercrime unit issued more than 200 takedown orders through the government's Sahyog portal, according to a report in The Economic Times.

The specific issue that triggered the scrutiny of Meta was the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's July 23 video addressing students on exam paper leaks protests. That video had been briefly taken down from Facebook and Instagram during the June-July protests demanding the resignation of then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper leak. Pradhan subsequently resigned on July 25.

Meta's chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, apologised to Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on August 5, attributing the brief removal of PM's video to an error by its automated content filters.

A revolution ‘recommended’ by the algorithms?

At the heart of the government's actions is a sense that social media recommendation algorithms are deliberately amplifying protest-related content, pushing it even to people who do not necessarily wish to consume such content.

But higher engagement leads to heightened emotions, a sense of urgency and more shares of the content, increasing watch time, which further fuels the online feeds, and support for such protests offline.

The algorithms optimise content for engagement, which reaches millions of people. Reports in the Indian media cited social media users who said their Instagram and Facebook feeds were flooded with protest-related reels in June-July, even when they did not follow such accounts. Content from the protest epicentre, Jantar Mantar, reached tens of millions of views or engagements, even though it emerged from only a few thousand posts or handles. Similar protests in other cities, such as Ranchi in Jharkhand, got far less reach. This is when the government became suspicious and sought data from Meta on whether this was algorithmic.

The platform neutrality argument of social media

The general response of social media companies is that the content that surfaces in feeds is based on what users already engage with. Protest content does well mainly because of its emotional value, creating feedback loops. Amid this, paid content boosting, and creator networks that post for 'collaboration' payments increase visibility. Add to this mix misinformation, deepfakes and old, recycled footage, and you have a deadly cocktail.

Foreign-linked amplification has also been noticed, including alleged Pakistan-origin networks in some cases, which circulate misleading information and recycled or selectively edited videos alongside genuine protest content.

A cognitive warfare aiming straight for the eyeballs

In short, what we are witnessing is the algorithm amplifying selective grievances and force-multiplying discontent.

The algorithms are prioritising outrage over solutions. This is often exploited by established political parties, which coordinate and co-opt campaigns by genuinely discontented youth from Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Bots are mixing with real people in this deliberate campaign, along with external actors.

This cognitive warfare is leading to rapid mobilisation beyond what would have been possible if the protests were indeed organic.

Algorithms lower the barrier to visibility and can quickly turn local issues viral among Gen Z, which is a heavy user base for Instagram Reels.

Mobile phones are the mobilising devices of today. And algorithms are shaping reach and directing narratives. A sense of broader or more intense unrest is being created even around localised protests.