Udhayanidhi’s arrest and Union government’s Meta crackdown | South Central 87

South Central explores the arrest of Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin and the Union government's social media crackdown following the CJP protests.

Published on:

07 Aug 2026, 1:38 pm

Has the recent arrest of Tamil Nadu Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin strengthened his political standing, or did the young TVK government make a political miscalculation?

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In this week's South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran and Anisha Sheth discuss the arrest of Udhayanidhi Stalin and the Union government's social media crackdown following the CJP protests.

They are joined by activist Tara Krishnaswamy, lawyer Nikhil Narendran, and TNM's Tamil Nadu Bureau Chief, Shabbir Ahmed.

Nikhil Narendran says that arresting politicians over their speech should be an exception rather than the rule. He says the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that arrest is not needed if there is no imminent threat.

"The Constitution gives us a right to actually make slightly or even offending speech. That's our right," Nikhil said.

Tara Krishnaswamy says the arrest was an example of executive overreach but stresses that misogynistic political speech must still be challenged.

"The way you don't tolerate demeaning speech is not by arresting somebody," Tara says. She adds that he should have been brought before the Women's Commission and made accountable for his words.

Shabbir Ahmed says the arrest has helped rally DMK cadres around Udhayanidhi, even as the government faces criticism over the decision. He also notes that the newly elected TVK government is still finding its footing in governance and Centre-State relations.

"It's too early for an 80-day-old government," Shabbir says.

"They are yet to get a grip on governance,” he says, adding that the TVK can only fight one enemy at a time.

“They're very scared to fight the BJP also at the same time”.

In the second part of the episode, the hosts discuss the Union government's warning to Meta over social media posts related to the CJP protests and the threat to withdraw safe harbour protections from social media platforms.

Nikhil says the government is trying to ensure its content is promoted over other anti-government content.

“If this is true, this is a crazy misuse of power which is happening, says Nikhil.

He adds that scrutiny of such platforms should not come from the government but from Parliament.

He further says that the government has the power to shut down different apps.

“There are platforms which they want to shut down in India, and there are ways in which they try to achieve it by coming up with different theories and arguments,” he says.

Tune in to the full episode here.

Audio timecodes:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:01:33 - Headlines

00:08:25 - Arrest of Udhayanidhi Stalin

00:50:17 - Crackdown on social media

1:07:52 - Recommendations

References

Raavan arrests and policing dissent in Andhra Pradesh | South Central 83

The Raja Singh acquittal pattern: How hate speech cases keep collapsing in court

The Careless Machine: Instagram’s Hidden Ad Scandal - BBC World Service Docs

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