Case studies

Details on some of the requests we received to restrict content based on local laws and what we did as a result.

Content Alleged to Violate Indian Law • Jan 2026 • India 🇮🇳

Request
We received a content takedown notice from the West Bengal, Bidhannagar North Police Commissionerate to restrict access to 14 Facebook posts. The notice invoked Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act and Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021. The notice stated that the posts violated the following local laws: 356(1), 353(1), 79, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The reported items include morphed and AI generated content comparing West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Hitler along with content that contain allegations of mis-governance, corruption, bribery and vote buying against Trinamool Congress party. The posts were published from the verified page of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal unit. The risk of not complying with the notice was the loss of safe harbour for the specific posts and potential criminal penalties against local personnel.
Result
The content did not violate Meta’s Community Standards. We restricted access to 12 items for violation of local law and notified the affected users. No action was taken against 2 items.

Request
We received an order from the Delhi High Court to restrict access to 30 Facebook and Instagram posts for defamation. The reported items claimed a local politician was involved in the alleged rape, abduction and murder of a woman in the state of Uttarakhand. The items include posts from the verified pages of the Indian National Congress Uttarakhand and the Aam Aadmi Party. The risks of not complying with the order were the loss of safe harbour for the specific posts, contempt proceedings and potential criminal penalties against local personnel.
Result
The content did not violate Meta’s Community Standards. We restricted access to 30 items and notified the affected users.

Request
We received content takedown demands from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Ministry of Public Security to restrict access to 14 Facebook pages and profiles for allegedly violating the following local laws: Decree 147/2024/ND-CP and the 2018 Cybersecurity Law. These pages and profiles are known to post content critical of the Vietnamese Government, and include profiles belonging to the U.S.-based activist Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and Germany-based activist Dang Thi Hue. The potential consequences of failing to comply with the demands include the enforcement of penalties as outlined in applicable local laws. This could also affect access to Meta's services in Vietnam during the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Result
The content did not violate Meta’s Community Standards. We temporarily restricted access to 9 pages and profiles (including Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and Dang Thi Hue) in response to reports that they allegedly violated local laws, and notified the affected users. No action was taken on the remaining 5 pages and profiles as they did not violate local laws.