Congress alleges government blocked Rahul-Vijay reel; Centre denies
What's the story
The Indian National Congress has accused Instagram of blocking a reel and photo post of Rahul Gandhi, featuring Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay. The party alleged the action was in violation of rules set by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). However, government sources have denied these allegations, attributing the issue to a technical error on Instagram's part, as per PTI.
Post impact
Controversial reel had received 12 million views in an hour
The controversial reel had received 12 million views within an hour of being posted, while the photo post had reached 46 million users. Congress leader Srivatsa alleged that Meta gave no reason for blocking Gandhi's account and claimed the "glitch" was due to MeitY rules. He further alleged that Gandhi's social media accounts have been suppressed for a long time across multiple platforms.
Error clarification
Internal error of Instagram, video restored later: Government sources
In response to the allegations, PTI cited government sources as clarifying that MeitY had no role in blocking Gandhi's posts. They said it was an internal error of Instagram's system that mistakenly flagged the post for blocking. "It is clarified that MeitY had nothing to do with this action. It was because of the platform's own internal system mistakenly flagging the post for blocking, which has now been restored," a source in the ministry reportedly said.
Twitter Post
Congress leader's post alleging MeitY obstruction
Instagram has blocked LOP Rahul Gandhi’s reel and pictures post featuring him and Thalapathy Vijay at today’s swearing-in ceremony.
— Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) May 10, 2026
The viral reel had gathered 12 million views in less than a hour and the viral pics post had already reached 46 million people.
Meta cites no…
Suppression claims
AICC national secretary alleges Meta blocked multiple posts
AICC national secretary Ruchira Chaturvedi also alleged that Meta first blocked the viral video from the oath-taking ceremony and later blocked an Instagram story by Gandhi raising this issue. The Congress party has been vocal about what they perceive as a pattern of suppression against their leader on social media platforms. However, government sources have maintained that these actions are not influenced by any directives from MeitY.