Will India ban Twitter, Instagram and Facebook?

India may be banning the likes of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

This is due to the government’s new rules regulating digital content coming into effect.

Koo, which is the Indian version of Twitter, is the only platform that has accepted the government’s intermediary guidelines.

Social media platforms that fail to accept these guidelines risk losing status as social media platforms and protections as intermediaries.

The government can also take action against them for not following the rules.

This has prompted mixed responses on social media. Some netizens like the idea while others are fearful that their favourite apps will become unavailable in India.

Many are now taking a trip down memory lane.

For a lot of Indians, their first brush with social media and online networking came with Orkut.

Subsequently, ‘WhatsApp Ban’, ‘Twitter Ban in India’, ‘Instagram Ban’ and other associated hashtags began trending on Twitter.

Orkut has since closed down but it was one of India’s most popular social media platforms.

According to Orkut, it was the true original.

Following the news that India could ban Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, there have been thousands of tweets using #Orkut, with many wishing that it would come back.

One person said: “I still love #orkut it was real social media platform.

“I was there on the last day Sep 30 2014. Scraps, Groups, Testimonials, it was all fun and genuine friends.”

Another said: “The term #Orkut brings always a smile to my face.

“Only those who are in their 30s know the value of this word.”

A third wrote:

“Well tbh Orkut deserved better after everything it gave us.”

A fourth person decided to post a meme of popular TV character Kokila Modi from the show Saath Nibhaana Saathiya.

The meme stated that people born after the year 2000 will have no idea what Orkut is.

People born after 2000 looking at #Orkut trend pic.twitter.com/mte4kAb2yc

— Rosa Barks (@therosabarks) May 25, 2021

Orkut was founded in 2004 and it was named after Google employee Orkut Büyükkökten.

Although it had a similar concept to its successors and rivals, it was arguably the first social media platform to gain international recognition and popularity.

During the mid-2000s, it enjoyed immense popularity in India, with most of the younger generation creating accounts.

By the time it closed down in September 2014, Orkut had more than 300 million users.

While many are convinced that India’s popular social media apps will be banned, netizens decided to honour Orkut with memes and jokes.