Parallax · politics desk · — 22

The account was hidden in India, nowhere else

2 crore followers in a week. One order made the account vanish from your phone, and from nobody else's.

One account, two *screens*

One country lost access to the account on 21 May 2026. No other country did.

What most people think

A ban took the account down, so the posts are gone and there is nothing left to open.

What the data shows

1country

The order told X to hide the account inside India and nowhere else. On a phone outside the country every post is still there.

The order covered one account on X. The website and Instagram losses are founder-reported.

ON YOUR PHONE

That remark was on a Friday. Two weeks later a satirical account is a case in the Delhi High Court.

15 May 2026
The remark. An oral observation in open court.
16 May 2026
The name. The Cockroach Janta Party is founded.
21 May 2026
The block. The account disappears inside India.
One account, one country. The only formal order on the record.
23 May 2026
Going dark. The founder says the website and his handles are gone.
29 May 2026
The court. Delhi High Court refuses to restore it.
On the day, the court had not been shown the order itself.
7 Jul 2026
Next hearing. The court takes it up again.

FOURTEEN DAYS

All of that was about one account on X. But the following was counted on Instagram, a different platform, and twenty million is hard to picture.

The account passed twenty million Instagram followers within a week of launching.

Within a week of the 16 May launch

~20–22MInstagram followers

A dated range, not a fixed count. Figures vary by platform and by the day.

  • About two crore followers Twenty million, in the unit we count in

  • Roughly two and a half times the BJP's Instagram handle And about one and a half times Congress's, on 21 May

THE SIZE

Two crore Instagram followers in a week. The question is where the order landed on that climb, and what it produced.

CJP following as share of ~22M peak · May 2026 · approximate, sources vary% of peak
0 25 50 75 100 63 The 21 May order arrived with theaccount already near its peak. A backup handle drew 1.6 to2 lakh followers in a day.
516
16 May · founded, 0 followers
521
21 May · the block · already near the peak
523
23 May · website down · ~21.9M, backup handle surges

THE CURVE

That walk happens on paper you never see. These four figures are what the record does show.

CJP × §69A · MAY 2026
~20–22M
Instagram followers within a week of launch
1
Account formally withheld under Section 69A
The X account, 21 May 2026. Website + Instagram losses are founder-reported.
3 hr
Platform takedown-compliance window since Feb 2026
Cut from a day or more.
2,300 +
Blocking orders to 19 platforms, Oct 2024–Oct 2025
Across all platforms and cases, not this one.

THE NUMBERS

One formal order. Here are the five things that could be done to an account, and who can actually do them.

Of five levers, the Indian executive holds one. The rest sit with the platforms, the account, or nobody at all.
Indian executive
Indian courts
US platforms
The account
Hide it inside India
Delete the account
Reach the servers
Reach copies readers kept
Stop a backup handle
● Full control ◐ Partial / contested ○ None

WHO HOLDS WHAT

That's the short version.

Full issue · 9 sections · 10 sources, all linked

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