COVID-19 is devastating in India. The Modi government is trying to censor social media.

India, a country with a population of 1.4 billion, has been hit by a second deadly wave coronavirus pandemic. But even though his health care system is breathing and cremation is burning with thousands of funeral pyres, he is trying to censor the internet himself.

Last week, the Indian Ministry of IT ordered Twitter to block more than 50 tweets in the country. A few days later New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Indian times reported that Facebook, Instagram and Youtube have also removed posts that were critical of the government. Last week, ordinary people led by WhatsApp and Telegram helped people find medical oxygen and hospital beds he complained threats to close and the Uttar Pradesh state police he filed a complaint He asked a man on Twitter for medical oxygen for his dying grandfather, saying he was “spreading misleading information.” On Wednesday, messages with the hashtag #ResignModi disappeared For a few hours on Facebook. Although the company was restored and claimed that the Indian government had not asked for censorship, it did not provide details as to why the hashtag was blocked.

These events – which happened in the days before each other when the criticism of the Indian government hit a fever – highlight that the space for dissent in the world’s largest democracy is shrinking. As social unrest when it grows up against an increasingly authoritarian government, it has done so against social media, one of the last remaining free spaces for citizens to express their opinions. New regulations they have given the government broad powers to limit content, forcing U.S. technology platforms that see India as a key market to seek a balance between growth and free expression.

It is not the first time an Indian government has tried to censor speech online. In 2012, before Modi came to power, the United Progressive Alliance of India (UPA) government ordered Internet service providers can block more than a dozen Twitter accounts, including those on the right.

In February, the government of India ordered Twitter criticized how the government handled protests over new agriculture laws to remove more than 250 tweets. Although Twitter blocked most accounts, it unblocked those belonging to journalists, activists and politicians, despite threats from the Indian government in prison.

“But now, the frequency and scale of the censorship that is being demanded is increasing,” Apar Gupta, director of the digital rights organization Internet Freedom Foundation, told BuzzFeed News. “India’s current Internet censorship is directly linked to social criticism of government policies.”

Over the weekend, the Indian IT Ministry tried to explain in an unsigned Word document that it shared with the press and was accessed by BuzzFeed News.

“[g]”Overnment supports criticism, genuine demands for support and suggestions in the collective fight against COVID19,” the statement said. “But it is necessary to take action against users who are misusing social media in this serious humanitarian crisis.”

He cited a few of the 53 tweets ordered by the ministry to block as examples of problematic content. There are four tweets that call the coronavirus pandemic conspiracy theory, and another four that are “old and unrelated audiovisuals of patients and the dead.” At least two of those four cases are real examples of misinformation, Indian news sellers Alt News and Newschecker told BuzzFeed News.

In an example of how thin the line between the removal of dangerous rumors and the censorship of political expression can be, the ministry has not provided an explanation for any other content promised. The analysis of the rest of the limited tweets BuzzFeed News has shown that they are making legitimate criticisms of the Prime Minister of India. One of the limited tweets, for example, is from Moloy Ghatak, the West Bengal state minister. Modi has been accused of mismanaging the pandemic and exporting vaccines when there is a shortage in India.

Neither Ghatak nor the IT ministry responded to requests for comment

One of the tweets limited to India was Pawan Khera, a spokesman for the Indian National Congress, India’s main opposition party. The tweet posted on April 12 shows photos of Kumbh Mela, a Hindu religious gathering held earlier this month. Millions of people bathed in the river, even as coronavirus cases were rising rapidly. Ordinary Indians as well as the press around the world have been criticized for allowing the Indian government to rally. Kherak in his tweet compares Kherak’s lack of reaction to India’s Kumbh Mela to an incident last year when members of a Muslim rally were accused of spreading the coronavirus when the country confirmed less than 1,000 cases.

“Why is my tweet stuck?” Khera told BuzzFeed News. “That’s the answer I need from the Indian government.”

“What law am I breaking? What rumors am I spreading? Where did I cause the panic? These are the questions I need to answer, ”Khera said, and this one sent it legal request this week to the IT ministry and Twitter.

“If I don’t get news of them, I’ll take them to court,” he said. “I need legal help to protect my freedom of expression.”

Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.

Experts say the ministry’s release does not provide sufficient justification for promising social media platforms to censor messages. “Since when did the government start sending out warnings to get rid of misinformation?” asked the editor of Pratik Sinha Alt News. “It simply came to our notice then [out of 53]? ”

Social media platforms have not been the only places that have seen repression. In recent weeks, there has been an increase in requests for support from volunteer-led WhatsApp and Telegram networks and people could access medical oxygen, life-saving drugs and hospital beds across the country. In recent days, however, some of them have been dismantled. According to one report On the Quint news website, volunteers leading these groups are saying they are Delhi police asking people to close the calls.

Delhi Police denied this, but by then people were scared. The WhatsApp network of more than 300 volunteers who did not receive the call was disbanded a few days ago. “We decided not to take any chances,” the founder of this group, who wished to remain anonymous, told BuzzFeed News. “[I felt] frustration and anger “.

Experts say one of the biggest problems in this situation is the lack of transparency, both on the part of the government and on the part of the platforms. Last week Twitter unveiled details of an order from the computer ministry’s Lumen, Harvard University database, allowing companies to disclose removals from governments around the world. But Facebook, Instagram, and Google have not allegedly censored any of their largest markets when asked by the public or BuzzFeed News.

“They didn’t even make a public statement about it,” Gupta of the Internet Freedom Foundation said. “The main duty of transparency lies with the government, but the platforms have not been completely transparent.”