Jantar Mantar protest posts reached 1.8 crore Instagram users, data analysis finds

Instagram posts linked to the student protest at Jantar Mantar reached an estimated 1.8 crore people, sharply outstripping the online footprint of a student protest in Ranchi, a data analysis has found.

The Delhi dataset counted 5,239 posts from about 3,100 unique accounts. It recorded engagement of more than 3,500 per post. Views per reel rose steadily after clashes on July 20 and peaked at 3 lakh on the day Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned.

By comparison, the Ranchi search returned 1,062 posts from 290 accounts, with a total reach of around 6 lakh. Reels there peaked early at 2.8 lakh views each before falling sharply; by a police clash on August 10, their visibility had dropped considerably.

At its high point, one in three reels posted by the 100 leading accounts concerned the Jantar Mantar protest, compared with a 3% share for Ranchi. BJP leader Amit Malviya cited the figures to accuse Meta of suppressing the Jharkhand protest and boosting Delhi content. The analysis does not establish whether platform recommendations caused the difference in reach.