New Delhi [India], July 15 : A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been moved before the Delhi High Court seeking the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe an alleged organised cyber-extortion racket that exploits Instagram's copyright enforcement mechanism to disable users' accounts and allegedly extort money from content creators for restoring them.
The petition, filed by Nitin Joshi, came up before a Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tejas Karia on Wednesday. Justice Karia recused from hearing the matter, following which Chief Justice Upadhyay directed that the case be listed before another Bench on July 28, 2026.
According to the petition, the alleged racket involves the filing of fabricated copyright infringement complaints through bot-operated accounts and organised syndicates, resulting in the suspension or removal of legitimate Instagram accounts without prior notice, independent verification, or meaningful human review. The petitioner claims that creators are thereafter allegedly contacted and asked to pay substantial sums to secure withdrawal of the copyright complaints or restoration of their accounts.
Leading with its prayers, the PIL seeks a writ directing the Ministry of Home Affairs to constitute a coordinated Special Investigation Team to investigate the alleged organised cyber-extortion network and act upon the petitioner's representations. It also seeks directions to preserve digital evidence, including IP logs, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, payment details and account metadata, trace domestic as well as cross-border perpetrators, investigate the financial trail of the alleged extortion proceeds and prosecute those found responsible.
The petition further challenges Rule 3(1)(c) and Rule 4 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, to the extent they allegedly permit disabling of user accounts without prior notice, disclosure of the complainant's identity, verification of copyright ownership or a graded and proportionate response.
Alternatively, it seeks directions to the Union Government to amend the Rules or frame a binding Standard Operating Procedure incorporating safeguards such as prior notice, mandatory human review, disclosure of the complainant's identity, proportional action and a fast-track counter-notice mechanism.
The petitioner has also sought directions to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to require significant social media intermediaries, including Meta Platforms Inc., to file periodic transparency reports disclosing repeat complainants and copyright takedown volumes to facilitate early detection of organised abuse.
In addition, the PIL seeks directions to Meta to restore suspended, removed or disabled Instagram accounts and posts of similarly placed creators pending human-reviewed re-examination of the copyright strikes. It also seeks mandatory human review before any automated copyright-strike action resulting in suspension or removal of accounts, issuance of prior notice and an opportunity of hearing before enforcement action.
The petition also prays for a forensic audit of Instagram's automated copyright-strike system to identify how fraudulent copyright complaints are allegedly being generated and whether there exists any nexus between such complaints and persons allegedly demanding payments for restoration of accounts. It further seeks the establishment of a dedicated fast-track grievance mechanism for complaints involving alleged extortion linked to copyright strikes.
As an interim measure, the petitioner has sought an order restraining Meta from suspending, removing or disabling Instagram accounts of similarly situated creators without prior notice and human review while directing the restoration of accounts already suspended or removed pending disposal of the PIL.
The petition contends that digital platforms have become a primary source of livelihood, business and professional identity for millions of Indians and that arbitrary disabling of accounts causes immediate and irreparable financial and reputational harm.
It further alleges that despite representations submitted to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Ministry of Law and Justice and police authorities on July 9, 2026, no effective institutional response has been taken to curb the alleged misuse of the copyright reporting mechanism.