Fake screenshot claims India has banned Instagram

Context

A Twitter post allegedly featuring a report by First India News with a text in Hindi stating that the Indian government has banned Instagram is going viral. The text inside the report, translated to English, reads, “Government of India: Now Instagram will be banned, boys and girls below 18 years of age are facing a huge loss. The government of India says that youth under 18 years of age use the app more during their time to study, and wrong (bad) videos are going viral on Instagram. For the past last one month, a bad song is going viral.15 million Reels have been made, and because of this, the Indian government is banning Instagram in the next 3 days all over India.” 

The screenshot depicts a "breaking news" plate with the date June 15, 2023, written on it. The purported screenshot is also viral on WhatsApp.

The news is false. The news channel did not publish such a report.

In Fact

There are no offical annoucements by the Indian government that the application would be banned, neither are there any media reports. We checked the website and Twitter accounts of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and found no such information on the matter. 

The social media application is accessible on Google Play Store and iOS App Store and is downloadable from any location in India as of June 19, 2023.

First India News issued a statement calling the viral screenshot fake and edited. 

The Verdict

The alleged screenshot of a report from First India News is fake. The government of India did not announce a ban on Instagram in India. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.