The Cyber Crime Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police has issued an urgent notice to social media platform X directing the removal and blocking of 18 specific URLs accused of disseminating “unlawful content.”
The notice, dated 8 May 2026, was issued under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, read with Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
According to the notice, the identified posts contained “provocative and politically sensitive remarks” that authorities claimed were capable of inciting public unrest and disturbing public tranquility.
The Cyber Crime Wing further stated that the posts could encourage unlawful assemblies, adversely affect the maintenance of law and order, and potentially lead to loss of life and damage to public property.
Police also cited alleged violations relating to “decency or morality” and “defamation” categories under the IT Rules.
Sources indicated that many of the X accounts listed in the notice had been posting short videos, memes, and political commentary critical of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and its leaders.
In the notice addressed to X Corp’s Safety and Legal Policy division, authorities directed the platform to immediately remove or disable access to the identified URLs and take proactive measures to prevent further dissemination of the content.
The notice warned that failure to act could result in the loss of intermediary liability protections available under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.
The Cyber Crime Wing also instructed X Corp to suspend or block the identified accounts and submit a compliance report within three hours of receiving the notice, describing the matter as “urgent.”
Tamil Nadu Police’s Cyber Crime Wing issued a takedown notice to X Corp on May 8, demanding the suspension of more than 20 accounts, including that of YouTuber Maridhas, within three hours, invoking intermediary liability provisions under the IT Act and the IT Rules, 2021. Most… pic.twitter.com/wi5Jw24AD2
— Rajalakshmi sampath (@Rajalakshmi2398) May 11, 2026
What Do These Posts Contain?
While most of the posts have been deleted, these posts were critical of a TVK supporter who abused and spoke derogatorily against TN governor Rajendra Arlekar.
The person in the video who seems to be a Sri Lankan Tamil said, “Dear Honorable Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, this video is for you. If I use any disrespectful word toward you in this video, I am really asking your pardon. Friends, please share this video with all the people of Tamil Nadu – share it with everyone. Hey worthless (poramboke) Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar dog, are you fit to be Governor? If someone is standing as the leader of the majority party, with 113 seats, you should give him the chance and send him to Parliament form the government. You have no ‘hair’ right to control or block that. Why are you doing this? Hey poramboke dog. You are working after taking money from the BJP, poramboke dog. Hey you, do you know the law on this? Do you remember the S.R. Bommai judgment of 1994? I will teach it to you again ‘mayirandi’, put it in your head. Earlier, Governors used to decide on their own whether a state government had a majority or not, and they would dismiss governments. That had happened in the past. Then, in the case filed by former Karnataka Chief Minister SR Bommai challenging this, the Supreme Court delivered a historic judgment. The main point of that judgment is this: the legislative assembly is the proper arena. Whether a party has a majority or not should not be decided from the Governor’s residence. It must be proved on the floor of the Assembly through a floor test and voting. That is one. Second, the Governor is only a referee. He is only a referee, ‘mayirandi’ on this field. A Governor must function like a neutral umpire, not like the leader of a political party. Third, judicial intervention – if the Governor’s decision is wrong, the court can step in and restore the government. So I am asking you poramboke dog: Hey TVK has 113 seats, right? They have the majority. What does anyone else have? What exactly are you trying to do? Just like Stalin and the others, they create some side issue, start a controversy, wave the TVK towel, create a problem there, create another distraction here, and then say, ‘Look, TVK has stirred trouble here, TVK is roaming around there, how will these people run a party, they have not even come to power yet, how will they govern?’ Then they create cases, divert attention, and use this gap to do their work. Hey poramboke dog, hey Governor pannadai (scumbag), what right do you have to reject the decision taken by the people? I am telling the people of Tamil Nadu today: if you come out onto the roads and fight for your rights, and if someone born somewhere else comes here, this poramboke dog sits as Governor in Tamil Nadu, and says that the decision you made is wrong, will you just stand and watch? Think about it carefully. Why was the previous Governor changed? Why was he replaced? All this is the work of the BJP, done together with the DMK. I am telling you – look at Sri Lanka. However strong the lines and fortifications were, they were broken. Gotabaya’s fort was brought down. That is what happened there. What is this hair Governor then?”
Among the links identified are those of YouTuber Maridhas who had shared the said video and captioned it, “Their mental instability has worsened to the point where they are posting videos abusing the Governor with vulgar language. This should not be allowed to grow further; they must be immediately arrested and suppressed. The one who instigated this is the broker Jagadeesh.”
Another handle condemned the person speaking in the video and wrote, “I strongly condemn the extremely vile and derogatory remarks made against Mr. @lokbhavan_tn, which are fundamentally anti-democratic in nature. I urge the concerned authorities—@tnpoliceoffl, @ECISVEEP, @TNelectionsCEO, and @mygovindia—to take appropriate action.”
Another wrote, “This TVK fellow is speaking disgracefully, calling a Governor a “scoundrel”; he must be arrested.”
It is not clear why these handles were targeted for sharing condemnations against the person in the video. Instead of taking action against the person in the video, the cybercrime has instead targeted civilians calling out the person who is derogating the office of the Governor of our country.
Fascism & Payasam
In 2024, when actor Joseph Vijay launched his political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), he positioned himself as a critic of the Dravidian establishment and what he described as fear-based politics. Speaking at a massive rally at V. Salai near Vikravandi in Villupuram district, Vijay not only outlined his party’s ideological direction but also sharply indicated who he saw as his political adversaries.
Targeting the DMK and the larger Dravidian political ecosystem indirectly, Vijay said that there is a “crowd” that tries to assign a colour to anyone entering politics.
“There is a crowd here that for sometime has been singing the same paeans. Anybody who comes into the politics is given ‘one particular colour’. They keep fearmongering people and cheat them. But ‘these people’ (indirect reference to DMK) will put underground dealing with ‘them’ (indirect reference to BJP). During elections, they will give statements and give sounds. For them, it’s always ‘fascism’, ‘fascism’, ‘fascism’. Among the people who are united here, they fearmonger by splitting people as majority-minority and keep putting a full-time scene with it. I’m asking you – If ‘they’re fascism’, are you ‘payasam’? You’re no better than them. You call this anti-people government as a ‘Dravida Model’ government and cheating people”, Vijay blasted the DMK.
Two years later, in the post-result political climate of 2026, one wonders if the TVK is another form of the DMK that cannot resist any criticism and will use state machinery to target civilians for posting content critical of the party.
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