YouTube news channel 4PM has been banned in India because of a government order linked to “national security or public order”.
The channel’s owner and editor-in-chief Sanjay Sharma said he had received an email from YouTube on Tuesday morning about the channel being closed as per the government’s directions. Sharma said he is concerned about national security and was only asking the government questions.
It is not immediately clear what triggered the government request.
Over the past few days, the channel has uploaded several videos criticising the Narendra Modi government over the Pahalgam attack.
“Pahalgam hamle ka khul gaya raaz. Raaton raat kya hua ki hat gayi sena?” read one headline.
“Laal kaaleen par Amit Shah ka swaagat. Mritakon ko shraddhanjali dene gaye the ya tamasha banaane?” read another.
At the time of writing this report, a message on the channel’s YouTube page read, “This content is currently unavailable in this country because of an order from the government related to national security or public order. For more details about government removal requests, please visit the Google Transparency Report (transparencyreport.google.com).”
4PM has six other YouTube channels, including 4PM UP and 4PM Rajasthan.
This comes a day after the government prohibited 16 Pakistani YouTube channels in India and wrote to BBC India over its use of the word “militants”.
Update on April 30: In a statement, the Press Club of India demanded that the government, “in the interests of transparency and disclosure, restore the availability” of the channel.
“Taking down the YouTube channel for asking questions is a direct attack on freedom of speech, which is enshrined in Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution. In a democracy, dissent and questioning are not threats, instead they are essential tools for transparency, accountability and strengthening democracy itself.”
Complaining about the media is easy. Why not do something to make it better? Support independent media and subscribe to Newslaundry today.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
