Delhi police seeks take down of ‘X’ accounts of SFLC, IFF & Geoblocked

In a shocking development, Delhi police asked the social media platform ‘X’ to take down the accounts of internet freedom groups like the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), the Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC.In) and Geo Blocked in India. The move follows a response IFF and SFLC to a ‘legal notice”  allegedly issued to them by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the political orgnisation and parent body of the NDA-led Bharatiya Janata Party.

Notice from Delhi police

Police wanted 37 posts to be taken down on grounds of ‘hate speech’, ‘defamation’, ‘safety/security’ and ‘enforcement of court order’. The RSS notice itself came as a reaction to the work of the organisations in documenting take downs and censorship. SFLC maintains a freedom tracker and said that the notices have raised concerns about the freedom of independent organisations to continue their work of monitoring and challenging online censorship.

In another statement, the IFF pointed out that the takedown request that accomplishes the demand of an anonymous private notice is not law enforcement. “It is the use of state power for a private end,” it said.

SFLC’s Timeline of Events 

Here’s a timeline of what has transpired:

• 29 October 2026 | First legal notice: SFLC.in, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) and @geoblockedindia received a notice from an advocate claiming to represent the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The notice objected to SFLC.in’s Free Speech Tracker, which documents online censorship and content restrictions in India. We questioned the notice’s authenticity, as it lacked official letterhead and an authorised signatory.
• 1 November 2026 | Second legal notice: The same advocate sent another notice, stating that the matter had been referred to the RSS’ legal and advocacy wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad. It also referred to complaints allegedly filed in different states.
• 1 November 2026 | Takedown request reported by X: X notified SFLC.in of a request from the “Indian Police” against a post discussing the legal notice. The notification did not name the agency, specify the laws invoked or include the underlying order.
• 3 November 2026 | Two takedown requests against SFLC.in’s X account: X informed SFLC.in of two Delhi Police requests covering 42 URLs linked to SFLC.in, IFF, @geoblockedindia and other users. Five of them concerned SFLC.in, including a request to restrict its entire X account.