The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) has taken legal action by filing a petition with the Delhi High Court, citing an undue delay by the Central government’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) in resolving their appeal against the permanent suspension of one of their Instagram accounts. Justice Amit Mahajan is set to hear the case on September 24.
SFI, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), argues that Instagram disabled their Delhi account on July 5. The social media platform cited potential association with another account that allegedly violated its community standards on account integrity. However, Instagram did not provide further details about the linked account or any specific violations.
The SFI’s Delhi account, which was established in 2018, boasted approximately 13,000 followers before it was taken down. The organization first contested the account’s disabling on July 7 and later reached out to Meta’s grievance officer on July 9, but received no response. Subsequently, they filed an appeal with the GAC on August 12.
As of September 16, the GAC’s website still listed the appeal status as “under process,” despite exceeding the 30-day timeline mandated for resolution. Rule 3A(4) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, obligates the GAC to address appeals swiftly and strive to resolve them within 30 calendar days.
The SFI is seeking a directive for the GAC to handle the appeal in alignment with the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 19(1)(g), and 21 of the Indian Constitution. The petition was filed through Advocate Naman Kumar.
