UK Arrests 800 Protestors & India Expands Social Media Takedowns | The Free Flow 9/11/25
Nepal social media ban ignites mass protests, a federal judge overturns Harvard funding cuts, Guinea suspends political parties and bans media outlets, and more.
Editors’ Note: We condemn the murder of Charlie Kirk and extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. No one should ever face violence, let alone be killed, for expressing an opinion, no matter how unpopular.
In a free and pluralistic society, we must accept that words are not violence, and we must condemn anyone who physically harms others in response to speech they don’t like.
Free speech is the antithesis of violence, and moments like this underscore why protecting it matters more than ever.
This Week At A Glance 🔎
— 🇺🇲 Judge Overturns Harvard Funding Cuts
— 🇳🇵 Nepal Social Media Ban Sparks Mass Protests
— 🇮🇳 India Expands Authority for Social Media Takedown Orders
— 🇬🇳 Guinea Suspends Political Parties, Bans Media Outlets
— 🇪🇺 EU Commission Explores Social Media Ban for Minors
First of All 🇺🇲
» Judge Overturns Harvard University Funding Cuts
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration violated Harvard University’s free speech rights when it froze around $2 billion of its funding.
Context:
When the Trump administration froze funding in April, it accused the college of antisemitism, “radical left” ideologies, and racial bias.
The President has also threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status and take control of its patents from federally funded research.
Three other Ivy League universities—Columbia, Penn, and Brown—complied with a list of the administration's demands to preserve funding after facing similar accusations.
The Ruling:
In her opinion, Judge Allison Burroughs wrote that the government had “used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities.”
Burroughs blocked the administration from freezing any more federal funding to the university and barred it from withholding payment on existing grants.
The White House called the decision “egregious” and vowed to appeal.
The Digital Age 🤖
» Nepal Social Media Bans Spark Mass Protests
National protests against corruption and social media bans erupted in Nepal after the government prohibited over two dozen platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, and WeChat.
Social Media Bans:
The bans took effect on September 5, after a week-long ultimatum for social media companies to comply with a new law expired.
The new regulations required platforms to register for a licence to operate and appoint a representative who can address grievances.
The Protests:
As protesters clashed with law enforcement in Kathmandu on September 7, authorities imposed a curfew of 12:30 p.m. local time around the Parliament complex.
Protesters continued, violating the curfew, and witnesses said the authorities used live ammunition, rubber bullets, and water cannons to disperse the crowds.
19 of 30 confirmed deaths occurred at the September 7 protest, when security forces responded to demonstrators.
Nepal’s largest media conglomerate also suspended two of its publications, including the Kathmandu Post, after protesters burned its offices.
» India Expands Authority for Social Media Takedown Orders
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Sayhog, a tool used to easily issue content takedown demands to social media companies, in October 2024.
Since then, all federal and state government agencies, as well as district-level officials, can order content removals.
Details:
Until Sayhog’s launch, social media takedown requests were issued only by two ministries: the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The platform has allowed federal and state government agencies, district-level officials, and local police to make takedown requests.
Since then, authorities across levels have submitted demands on Sayhog, targeting content from 3,465 URLs in India, circumventing Supreme Court rulings that safeguard against censorship.
The platform operates under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, which courts have not yet reviewed.
This section states that tech companies failing to remove unlawful content upon government notice may lose their liability shield for user-generated content.
» Ninth Circuit Judges Uphold California's ‘Addictive Algorithm’ Law
A panel of Ninth Circuit judges partially upheld a lower court decision that allows a California law regulating minors’ access to ‘addictive’ social media algorithms to advance.
In Court:
The panel rejected an appeal, filed by tech trade group NetChoice, that the “Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act” was “unconstitutionally vague.”
It also ruled that the law’s provision requiring companies to create a private mode for minors — which prevents strangers from viewing or responding to minors’ posts — was “narrowly tailored.”
NetChoice’s challenges to the Act’s age-verification provisions were not ready for the court to address, it decided, since the legislation wouldn’t require actual implementation before 2027.
The panel disagreed, however, with the lower court ruling on a provision barring minors’ accounts from showing like or share counts by default, holding that this was “likely unconstitutional.”
Our Take: The Ninth Circuit’s ruling opens the door to dangerous erosion of First Amendment protections by allowing California to regulate speech under the guise of regulating “design.” Framing algorithmic curation as inherently harmful permits the state to interfere with how platforms present lawful content, and that is an erosion of platforms’ editorial rights. — Ashkhen Kazaryan
» Outages and Social Media Blocks Take Over Turkey and Southeastern Europe
As the main Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party called for rallies, Google experienced a widespread outage, and other online platforms, such as X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and WhatsApp, faced restrictions.
Details:
According to global internet monitor Netblocks, multiple networks experienced access problems beginning September 8, after police installed barricades around the RPP’s headquarters.
The recent outages follow a previous incident where users' access to Google servers was blocked across Turkey and neighboring southeastern European countries.
The Google outages affected users in Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Armenia, the Netherlands, and Germany.
The Digital Watch Observatory reported that Google's services were restored on September 4.
» Pakistan Authorities Shut Down Internet Services for the Third Time Within a Month
Balochistan, the largest province in Pakistan, has experienced its third internet shutdown since August 6 amid protests and assemblies.
Details:
On August 6, Pakistani authorities announced the immediate shutdown of mobile internet services in Balochistan, citing "security reasons”.
15 days later, the Balochistan High Court ordered the government to restore mobile internet service in the province.
On August 30, there was another shutdown, disrupting activists who were planning a protest on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance.
Users began experiencing shutdowns on 3G and 4G mobile internet services again on September 5, which were later restored the evening of September 6.
» Russian Online Manga Library Fined for LGBTQ+ Propaganda
Mangalib, a Russian online manga library made of user-uploaded works, has been fined 14 million rubles ($170,000) for seven comics that violate Russia’s ban on “LGBTQ+ propaganda.”
Details:
The website did take steps to regulate content by allowing users to report “propaganda.”
The website’s project manager, Ivan Kcast, has accumulated personal fines totaling the equivalent of $12,300 for related prior offenses.
Russia’s media and internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, cited one of the comics as dangerous over its cover art, which it claims shows two men positioned as if about to kiss, although it contained homosexual themes.
The claim was disputed in court as one of the characters was actually female, and because the comic has no homosexual themes.
The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺
» European Commission President Explores Minor Social Media Ban
The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, said she is considering how minors in the EU could be restricted from social media in her annual State of the Union speech on September 9.
Context:
Von der Leyen said the Commission is considering Australia’s ban on social media platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X for users under the age of 16.
In June, French President Emmanuel Macron said France would ban access to social media for children under the age of 15 if it is not done at the EU level.
The Commission is also working with five EU countries to pilot an age verification application, as reported in a previous Free Flow.
» UK Police Arrest Over 800 Demonstrators at Palestine Action Ban Protest
London Metropolitan Police arrested 800 demonstrators during a September 7 protest in support of Palestine Action, which the UK has deemed a terrorist organization.
Details:
An estimated 1,500 took part in the protest at Parliament Square, resulting in 857 arrests for showing support for Palestine Action.
33 demonstrators were arrested on other charges, including 17 for assaults on police officers.
More than 700 others have been arrested in London and across the UK on previous weekends.
Approximately 114 people have since been charged with terrorism-related offences under the UK’s counter-terrorism law, including seven spokespeople from the UK activist group Defend Our Juries, who face sentences of up to nine years.
Our Take: In an essay commissioned by the UK’s Commission for Countering Extremism, Jacob Mchangama wrote: “Today, many governments – democratic and authoritarian alike – are expanding anti- terrorism and extremism laws to curb radical ideas and movements. These measures are often justified as essential for national security or public order. But history and emerging evidence suggest that overzealous censorship and suppression can backfire, undermining the very democratic values they purport to defend.”
Free Speech Recession 🌎
» Moroccan Activist Jailed for 30 Months Over T-Shirt Slogan
A Moroccan court has sentenced feminist activist Ibtissame Lachgar to 30 months in prison for “offending Islam” after she posted a photo wearing a t-shirt that read “Allah is lesbian.”
Details: The 50-year-old clinical psychologist and activist was arrested last month, before she was sentenced and issued a fine of 50,000 dirhams ($5,500) on September 3.
» Guinea Suspends Political Parties and Bans Private Media Outlets
Since August 22, Guinea has suspended three political parties, restricted private media outlets, and suspended website access ahead of its constitutional referendum on September 21.
Political Party Bans and Suspensions: Following the suspension of 28 political parties on March 14, Guinean authorities disbanded the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea, the Rally of the People of Guinea, and the Party for Renewal and Progress from engaging in all political activities.
Restrictions on Media Outlets:
On August 29, the High Authority for Communication banned private media outlets from providing live broadcasts or platforms for any suspended or dissolved political party.
It also said that any content about the constitutional referendum, which will provide a vote on whether the country should return to civilian rule following the coup d’état’s takeover in 2021, would be strictly regulated.
Website Suspensions:
On September 1, the HAC suspended access to the independent news website, Guinee360, for three months, citing “professional shortcomings” and “manipulation of information.”
Guinee reported on the constitutional referendum campaign.
Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.
Ava Sjursen is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and a student at Boston College studying communications and political science.
Ashkhen Kazaryan is a Senior Legal Fellow at The Future of Free Speech, where she leads initiatives to protect free expression and shape policies that uphold the First Amendment in the digital age.
Jacob Mchangama is the Executive Director of The Future of Free Speech and a research professor at Vanderbilt University. He is also a senior fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and the author of Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media.
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