Editors Guild slams MIB & Delhi court over Adani related content takedown order

Several journalists and digital creators have said they received notices from YouTube and government agencies to remove content related to Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), following a Delhi court order. The Editors Guild of India has described the development as troubling.

The Guild said it was ‘deeply concerned’ over the court’s directive restraining nine journalists, activists and entities from publishing or circulating ‘unverified, unsubstantiated and ex facie defamatory’ reports about AEL. The order required that such content be removed within five days.

“More disturbingly, the order further empowers the corporate entity to keep forwarding URLs and links of any content it considers defamatory to intermediaries or government agencies, who are then obliged to remove such content within 36 hours,” the Guild said in a statement.

Statement on Delhi Court’s Adani Takedown Order pic.twitter.com/3oXFiEnOxv

— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) September 17, 2025

It added that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s action in sending takedown notices to platforms was ‘equally troubling.’ According to the Guild, the ministry directed YouTube to remove more than 138 links and Instagram to take down 83 posts.

“This extension of executive power has effectively given a private corporation powers to determine what constitutes defamatory content regarding their affairs, which extends the power to order content takedown,” the Guild said.

The statement warned that such measures risk curbing press freedom. “A free and fearless press is indispensable to democracy. Any system that allows private interests to unilaterally silence critical or uncomfortable voices poses a serious risk to the public's right to know,” it said.