New Delhi: Linktree, a popular ‘link in bio’ platform widely used by influencers, businesses, and celebrities on Instagram, appears to be blocked in India over the past week. The reason behind this blockage remains unclear. The platform serves a broad user base, including political groups like the Bharatiya Janata Party, whose official Instagram directs followers to a Linktree page. An official from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology reportedly said they were unaware of any directive ordering the blocking of the Australia-based company’s service. Meanwhile, the Department of Telecommunications, responsible for communicating blocking orders to telecom and internet providers, has not commented on the situation. Instagram restricts the number of links allowed in posts, prompting users to place a single link in their bio to guide followers to external sites. Services like Linktree enable users to consolidate multiple links into one accessible page, a tool heavily relied upon by creators.

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Technology lawyer Sapni GK, who first noticed the block, expressed concern over the impact on countless creators and businesses that depend on the platform for revenue and audience engagement. “Such unilateral blocks of services should be reevaluated, on the grounds of their economic as well as freedom of speech impacts. Greater transparency in the implementation of blocking under the IT Act will prevent the harms that unilateral blocking orders create,” she told The Hindu.

While some users create their own multi-link pages, such as the Aam Aadmi Party’s custom “.bio” website, Linktree remains the dominant service in this category, valued at $1.7 billion in 2022. According to Similarweb, it ranks as the 249th most visited website globally. Linktree is yet to respond to inquiries regarding the blockage. The Department of Telecommunications frequently publishes court orders for website blocking, often related to copyright claims, but no recent order appears to specifically target Linktree URLs.