India has blocked the social media accounts of at least four news portals – Maktoob Media, The Kashmiriyat, Free Press Kashmir and the United States-based Muslim – amid escalating geopolitical tensions with Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack.

The accounts were blocked in response to legal demands by the Indian government, said social media platforms X and Instagram.

The accounts of Maktoob Media, Free Press Kashmir and The Kashmiriyat have been blocked on X, while that of Muslim has been blocked on Instagram.

The websites for all three portals are still accessible in India.

When the page for Muslim is sought to be accessed from India, Instagram displays the message: “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.”

X also said that the accounts of Maktoob Media, Free Press Kashmir and The Kashmiriyat were withheld in India in response to legal demands.

Maktoob Media, Free Press Kashmir and The Kashmiriyat are among Indian platforms that have in recent years sought to provide Muslim and Kashmiri perspectives on news in the context of the rising influence of Hindutva.

The news platform Muslim describes itself as “an independent media platform delivering Muslim news, stories and coverage to our Ummah [global Muslim community]” and has around 6.7 million followers on Instagram, AFP reported.

Aslah Kayyalakkath, the editor of Maktoob Media said the portal has “no knowledge of the reason for the government’s arbitrary action”.

“It is an assault on press freedom,” Kayyalakkath added in a statement on X. “Maktoob pledges to continue its crucial work at a time when truth is becoming a casualty.”

Condemning the blocking of its X account, The Kashmiriyat’s editorial team said “this feels like an erasure of years of work, of the countless hours we poured into honest, often difficult journalism”.

“To be silenced without warning – hurts, deeply,” the statement on Instagram added.

Ameer-Al-Khatahtbeh, the founder of Muslim, said that the blocking of the platform’s Instagram account in India was “detrimental” at a time when the Western and legacy media were failing to represent Muslims accurately.

Meta, the company that owns Instagram, is yet to comment on blocking Muslim. A spokesperson of the company referred AFP to a webpage that details its policy on limiting content when governments view certain material on its platforms as “against local law”.

This development comes amid social media accounts of various Pakistani politicians, actors and cricketers being banned in India, like those of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto and singer Abida Parveen.

On April 28, the Union government also banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, accusing them of spreading misinformation and content that could incite communal tension. The banned platforms included major news outlets such as Dawn News, Samaa TV and Geo News.

On Wednesday, the Indian military carried out strikes on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Nine sites were targeted under Operation Sindoor.

The Pakistan Army retaliated by shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Sixteen persons were killed in the firing, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The terror attack at the Baisaran area near Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam town on April 22 left 26 dead and 17 injured. The terrorists targeted tourists after asking their names to ascertain their religion, the police said. All but three of those killed were Hindu.

Also read: As Hindutva has grown, so have websites reporting on India’s embattled Muslims