Hyderabad, March 11 -- The Union Government has directed a mass takedown of posts satirising, mocking and criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accounts condemning the Centre's response to the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations on X and Instagram.

Several posts were taken down over the course of February 2026, including a post by Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia referencing a viral "mistranscription" of a Sanskrit subhashita previously cited by Modi, posts criticising the treatment and targeting of minorities in India and two animated satirical cartoons featuring the Prime Minister, according to a report by The Hindu.

Although statistical data on the number of posts taken down was not available, The Hindu's analysis o...