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ExploreFree Speech TrackerTrack Violations across Categories, States & Years

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The Free Speech Tracker is a database that records free speech violations in India across various categories. Tracked violations can be searched across categories, states or years. Categories covered include Arrests, Attacks, Censorship, Harassment, Internet Control, Killings, Lawfare, Policies/Regulations, and Threats.

Please visit the About Us page for a guide to free speech violations tracked by FSC,

Numbers are liable to change and violations may be reclassified in case of discrepancies in reporting or updates due to developments in ongoing cases. In case of updates or corrections and to report free speech violations, please contact us.

[Note: The data included currently is for 2025 as updates for previous years is under process. For details of previous years, please go to the Reports section.]

Violations

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Censorship

Freedom of speech under fire? Rajasthan Instagram influencer detained over anti-RSS post

State: Rajasthan

Year: 2026

Date: June 23, 2026

Internet control

A major political controversy has erupted in Rajasthan after police detained a 25-year-old Instagram content creator for posting a video critical of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Naveen Choudhary, who runs the “Jhunjhunu Express” page with over 11,000 followers, was taken into custody on Sunday from Jhunjhunu district.

In the video posted on Saturday evening, Choudhary showed two groups of children in a playground. One group was skating on a basketball court, while the other was accompanied by elders dressed in the typical style of RSS workers.

 

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Internet Control

India orders temporary ban on Telegram over exam fraud concerns

State: Applicable Across India

Year: 2026

Date: June 16, 2026

India has issued an order to block Telegram until June 22, citing concerns that fraudsters are using the messaging platform to target students ahead of a re-test of the country’s biggest entrance exam.

The move was announced on Tuesday by India’s National Testing Agency, which administers the National Eligibility Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET [UG]), a medical college entrance exam taken by millions of students each year. The Agency said the restrictions were aimed at preventing people from using Telegram to sell fake exam papers and spread misinformation before the June 21 re-test of NEET.

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Censorship

Actor Salman Khan’s legal notice to halt film allegedly based on black buck case

State: Applicable Across India

Year: 2026

Date: June 2, 2026

Censorship – The Arts

Bollywood actor Salman Khan has issued a legal notice to halt the development of ..

Actor Salman Khan has approached the Delhi High Court seeking to restrain the release and promotion of Kala Hiran: The Battle For Legacy, alleging that the film unlawfully exploits his personality rights and could harm his reputation.

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice on an application filed by Bollywood actor Salman Khan seeking to restrain the release and promotion of Kala Hiran: The Battle For Legacy. The actor has alleged that the proposed film violates his personality rights and could damage his reputation.

The matter came up before Justice Neena Bansal Krishna in connection with a pending commercial suit filed by Khan concerning the protection of his personality and publicity rights, PTI reported.

During the hearing, Advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing on behalf of the actor, submitted that Khan’s personality rights, including his image, likeness and other aspects of his identity, had already been recognised and protected by the High Court through an earlier order.

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Censorship

Delhi HC directs removal of social media posts accusing sitting Judge in Saket collapse case

State: Delhi

Year: 2026

Date: June 8, 2026

Contempt of Court – Others

Delhi HC directs removal of social media posts accusing sitting Judge in Saket collapse case

The Delhi High Court on Monday directed major social media platforms to remove videos and posts containing allegations against a sitting High Court judge in connection with the recent Saket building collapse, observing that such content appeared aimed at scandalising the judiciary and could not be allowed to remain online indefinitely. A division bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna and Justice Madhu Jain passed the direction while hearing a criminal contempt petition filed by the Delhi High Court Bar Association against one Dr. Kapil Kakar, who had uploaded a series of videos and posts following the Saket tragedy.

https://lawbeat.in/news-updates/delhi-high-court-orders-removal-of-posts-targeting-sitting-judge-over-saket-building-collapse-1599859

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Lawfare

HC refuses to gag HDFC Bank in ₹1,000-crore Lilavati trust defamation suit

State: Maharashtra

Year: 2026

Date: June 10, 2026

Defamation

HC refuses to gag HDFC Bank in ₹1,000-crore Lilavati trust defamation suit

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to grant any interim relief to the trust that runs the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra in its ₹1,000-crore defamation lawsuit against HDFC Bank and its CEO, Sashidhar Jagdishan.

A single-judge bench of justice Somasekhar Sundaresan held that the bank’s statements were not defamatory and were “in fact based on a factually accurate foundation in explaining and defending a valid [loan] recovery process adopted in accordance with law”.

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Censorship

Anand Patwardhan says YouTube removed his film ‘Father, Son and Holy War’, alleges censorship

State: Applicable Across India

Year: 2026

Date: June 9, 2026

News Media/Documentaries

Documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan on Monday said that his 1995 film Father, Son and Holy War was removed by YouTube for allegedly being “too violent” and condemned it as an act of censorship by the video sharing platform.

The filmmaker said that the documentary “records the violence caused by religious fanatics and politicians vying for power”, and described it as “an exposé of violence, not an endorsement” of it.

“Shame on YouTube!” Patwardhan added on social media. “Remove the censors, not good sense.”

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Censorship

YSRCP Facebook Page Blocked in India

State: Andhra Pradesh

Year: 2026

Date: June 14, 2026

Social Media

The official Facebook page of the YSR Congress Party has reportedly been blocked in India, triggering a strong reaction from party president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Taking to X, Jagan accused the Chandrababu Naidu government of suppressing freedom of expression and opposition voices.

He recalled that the party’s official Instagram account had also been removed earlier this year. Now, he said, the YSRCP Facebook page has been made unavailable to users in India.

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Censorship

Disclosure Day undergoes censorship for expletives; fans question the cuts

State: Applicable Across India

Year: 2026

Date: June 12, 2026

The arts

Steven Spielberg’s film Disclosure Day faced cuts from the Central Board of Film Certification in India, including the omission of the word “sex” from the film’s subtitle.

Steven Spielberg’s film Disclosure Day released in theatres earlier this Friday. The film brings Spielberg back to a science-fiction cum alien genre after a long time. While he has made multiple sci-fi films in the recent past, his last extraterrestrial film is 2005’s War of the Worlds, starring Tom Cruise. Interestingly, Disclosure Day has faced some cuts from the Censor Board in India.

The board had the makers remove expletives from the film, which might be a common practice for theatrical releases in India. However, what caught the eye of netizens is the omission of the word ‘sex’ from the film, including the subtitle.

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Attacks

A woman report from Dainik Bhasker beaten up

State: Madhya Pradesh

Year: 2026

Date: April 30, 2026

Attacks – Journalists

[Translated from the original post in Hindi]

The woman seen in the picture is a female reporter of the Bhaskar Group. The owner of the orchestra is the one with a stick in his hand. The female reporter was also beaten several times in this operation. A female reporter was undercover for five days to expose the nexus on the sale of women in Bihar, during which time the female reporter was sold three times. During this time, she exposed the dark world of agents, brokers and orchestra gangs by living among them. As soon as the reporter came in contact with this network, seeing her face and looks, people started bargaining openly, someone was saying, the girl is very hot, the viewer will go crazy, then some said that she is from Haryana, she will make the customer happy, some people started talking about taking her to the leaders and big people. The offer was made.

‘Let’s introduce him to the MLA, once he put his hand in it, life will change’

Someone took out a pistol in the room, someone started threatening in a stern voice, but the female reporter continued to gather evidence.

The most shocking thing reported was that the gang sold the same reporter to different people three times. The bravery of the female reporter must be applauded. Such news keeps faith in journalism alive. Otherwise, in this era, we have also seen people who call themselves emperors of journalism, but their knees buckle at a WhatsApp message and they surrender themselves. Anyway… the entire team deserves congratulations for this report.

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Killings

Andhra Pradesh Journalist, K Jaganmohan Reddy, Out On Morning Walk, Chased And Stabbed To Death

State: Andhra Pradesh

Year: 2026

Date: April 28, 2026

Killings – Journalists

When Jaganmohan Reddy, a journalist based in Andhra Pradesh, stepped out of his house on Tuesday morning, little did he know it would be his last walk of his life. Reddy was out on his daily morning walk when he was chased and attacked by unidentified men. He died from his injuries.

Reddy, a journalist who was associated with ABN Andhra Jyothy, was murdered in V Kota town of Chittoor, the home district of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. According to preliminary reports, unidentified assailants chased and stabbed him with sharp weapons, leaving him with no chance of escape. Reddy was found lying in a pool of blood with a torn shirt.

The killing has triggered widespread outrage among journalist bodies and civil society, with several associations condemning the attack and demanding swift and stringent action against those responsible.

Superintendent of Police (Chittoor) Tishar Dudi confirmed that the murder took place in the early hours and involved bike-borne assailants. Police are probing all possible angles, he said, including personal enmity, while not ruling out other motives.

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