HRF condemns Instagram curbs on ‘Stop Vizag Data Centers’ account, asks Meta to disclose legal basis

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Members of environmental organisations and residents hold placards at a protest against proposed data centre projects in and around Visakhapatnam. File | Photo Credit: V. Raju

The Human Rights Forum (HRF) has condemned Meta’s restriction of the Instagram account of the citizen-led ‘Stop Vizag Data Centers’ campaign in India on September 19, alleging that the action had curtailed a platform for public scrutiny of hyperscale data centre projects in and around Visakhapatnam.

In a statement on Tuesday (September 22, 2026), the HRF’s representatives said nine posts from the account had also been restricted in the preceding weeks. They alleged that online criticism of hyperscale data centres in the region had repeatedly been restricted under “legal requirements under India’s Information Technology Rules”.

HRF representatives said the campaign, launched in July, had raised questions about the projects’ requirements for water, land and electricity, the use of public resources, environmental risks and the lack of transparency and public participation.

According to HRF representatives, the campaign had attracted 56 lakh views and 11,800 followers in two months. They also alleged that posts by HRF and an investigative documentary by the Environmental Reporting Collective had faced restrictions on Instagram.

HRF State general secretary Y. Rajesh and HRF Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Coordination Committee member V.S. Krishna demanded that Meta restore the account and disclose the legal basis for the restriction, including the authority that sought it and the specific request made.

The HRF representatives said public-interest projects should be subject to scrutiny and called for transparency and public debate over data centre projects in the region.

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