SFI moves Delhi HC, seeks expeditious decision on appeal against Instagram account disabling

The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear on Thursday a petition moved by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) challenging the delay in deciding its appeal against the permanent disabling of its official Delhi Instagram account. Justice Amit Mahajan is scheduled to hear the matter on September 24.

The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear on Thursday a petition moved by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) challenging the delay in deciding its appeal against the permanent disabling of its official Delhi Instagram account. Justice Amit Mahajan is scheduled to hear the matter on September 24. SFI has approached the High Court against the Central Government’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) and Meta Platforms Inc., alleging that its appeal against the blocking of its Instagram account has remained pending beyond the timeline prescribed under the Information Technology Rules, 2021.

According to the petition, Instagram permanently disabled the SFI Delhi account, @SfiDelhi, on July 5, 2026, stating that it “may be associated with another account that has gone against our rules.” The petitioners claim that Instagram did not disclose the identity of the alleged associated account or specify the particular violation that resulted in the disabling of the account.

The account, created in 2018, had around 13,000 followers, according to the plea, and was used by SFI for communicating its activities, student campaigns and issues. The petition states that SFI initially appealed against the action on July 7 and approached Meta’s grievance officer on July 9. After allegedly receiving no response, it filed an appeal before the GAC on August 12.

The petitioners have claimed that the GAC website continued to show the appeal as “under process” as of September 16, despite more than 30 days having passed. The plea relies on Rule 3A(4) of the IT Rules, 2021, under which the GAC is required to deal with appeals expeditiously and endeavour to resolve them finally within 30 calendar days from receipt of the appeal.

SFI has sought directions to the GAC to process and decide its appeal in accordance with the prescribed framework. The petition has also raised a broader issue over the procedure followed in disabling the account and the subsequent delay in providing an appellate remedy. SFI has alleged that its account was permanently disabled without being given a specific reason for the action or an opportunity to explain why the account allegedly violated Instagram’s rules. According to the plea, the disabling of the account resulted in the loss of its followers, engagement and previously posted content, affecting the organisation’s established platform for communicating with students and the public.

The petition further points out that the Grievance Appellate Committee mechanism was introduced under the IT Rules to provide users with an appellate remedy against decisions of social-media intermediaries. SFI has therefore approached the High Court primarily over the alleged delay in that statutory process, contending that its appeal has remained marked as “under process” even after expiry of the 30-day period contemplated under Rule 3A(4). The plea seeks a direction for the appeal to be decided in accordance with the timeline prescribed under the Rules. (ANI)