A viral social media claim that the Government of India will ban Instagram across the country from the night of August 25, 2026 has been categorically dismissed by the Centre, with the Press Information Bureau (PIB) branding the claim as completely fake.
Labeling the claim as “fake”, the PIB Fact Check Unit clarified that no such announcement has been made by the Government of India, urging citizens not to be misled by fabricated posts designed to trigger panic and confusion.
The viral rumour, which spread rapidly across multiple social media platforms, falsely claimed that the Centre had decided to prohibit access to Instagram beginning next month. However, the government’s official fact-checking agency swiftly intervened, exposing the claim as entirely baseless.
सोशल मीडिया पर एक पोस्ट साझा कर दावा किया जा रहा है कि भारत सरकार द्वारा 25 अगस्त 2026 की रात से भारत में #Instagram पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया जाएगा।#PIBFactCheck
❌ यह दावा #फर्जी है।
✅ भारत सरकार द्वारा ऐसी कोई घोषणा नहीं की गई है।
⚠️कृपया सतर्क रहें और ऐसे भ्रामक दावों के… pic.twitter.com/6v9Dz8bdUV
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) July 27, 2026
“A post shared on social media is claiming that the Government of India will impose a ban on Instagram in India starting from the night of 25 August 2026. This claim is fake,” the PIB Fact Check Unit stated.
The agency further emphasised that no notification, order or policy decision regarding any such ban has been issued by the Government. It urged the public to remain vigilant, avoid forwarding unverified content, and rely only on official government sources for authentic information.
The latest clarification comes amid a growing trend of fabricated social media posts falsely attributing major policy decisions to the Central Government in an apparent attempt to create uncertainty and fuel misinformation online.
The Instagram hoax surfaced just a day after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dismantled another viral claim that falsely attributed remarks to its spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, concerning foreign funding of protests by the so-called Cockroach Janata Party (CJP).
A manipulated social media post had claimed that the MEA spokesperson stated that intelligence and investigative agencies had found no evidence of foreign funding behind the protests. Rejecting the claim outright, the MEA Fact Check Unit said the viral post misrepresented and distorted the spokesperson’s actual remarks made during the Ministry’s biweekly media briefing.
“The post is misleading and misrepresents the statement of the Spokesperson,” the Ministry said while dismissing the fabricated quote.
