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Crackdown on independent YouTube news channels a sign of things to come?

Nachiket Deuskar

Over the past 10 days, the Union government has ordered YouTube to remove at least three popular digital Hindi news channels from the video sharing platform – Bolta Hindustan, National Dastak and Article 19 India.

The government’s decision seemed arbitrary. Bolta Hindustan’s editor Samar Raj told Scroll that YouTube had not provided them with any reason for why the government wanted the channel removed.

YouTube’s correspondence addressed to Bolta Hindustan only said that the channel was taken down in compliance with the Union information and broadcasting ministry’s directions under Rule 15(2) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021. The rule gives an officer authorised by the ministry the power to direct social media platforms to block content. The rules have been challenged in the court.

The same section was cited in the take down order for National Dastak, besides Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The section enables the Centre to send content-blocking orders to online intermediaries if the content is deemed a threat to national security, sovereignty or public order.

A similar notice was sent to Article 19 India, according to reports. Journalist Navin Kumar, who runs Article 19 India’s YouTube channel, had said on April 4 that their Facebook page had also been restricted.

YouTube’s correspondence to National Dastak on April 3 said that the ministry was “likely to pass a final order” to shut the channel “shortly”. However, at the time of sending this newsletter to readers, National Dastak and Article 19 India’s channel were still accessible on the platform.

There is wider context to why these channels were ordered to be taken down. In recent years, independent news on YouTube has proliferated – making it a go-to platform for the masses. About 93% of India’s online news consumers now use YouTube, the platform’s parent company Google and data analytics firm Kantar said in a report in June. These channels have garnered a robust subscriber base and are widely watched. The National Dastak channel has 94 lakh subscribers and has garnered 363 crore views since 2015, when it was started.

It is also the focus of their content that matters. National Dastak, for example, describes itself as a voice of Dalits, Adivasis, farmers, women and the oppressed people. Mainstream news platforms usually do not report on the problems faced by these marginalised sections the way these platforms do.

Digipub News India Foundation, an association of digital-only news outlets, said that the lack of information about why the channels’ removal was ordered “makes it harder to mount a challenge, violating constitutionally guaranteed rights of due process and equality before law”. “The repression of digital news platforms that report critically on the government, particularly in the weeks leading up to the general election, endangers the functioning of the media and its core task of keeping the public informed,” Digipub said.

Worse, the government’s crackdown comes even before the controversial Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill becomes a reality. The draft legislation, with its vague language, has been widely criticised for providing the government with an overarching censorship mechanism. The new broadcast law, which is awaiting Parliament’s nod, will have a chilling effect on independent news media, critics warn.

In March, the Centre had also rolled out its so-called fact-checking unit, which has been stayed by the Supreme Court. Critics caution that the government has, in effect, given itself the power to determine what is fake in respect of its own work and order content it deems fake to be removed.

Meanwhile, India’s new telecommunications law already tightens the government’s control of the internet further, experts have warned.

The current tools that the government has, in addition to the proposed broadcast bill and the Centre’s fact-check unit, may pave the way for this evident crackdown on independent news media to only worsen – depriving citizens of access to facts and diverse voices and sounding a death knell for the fourth pillar of democracy.

Ayush Tiwari looks back on 10 years of digital censorship by the Modi government as part of Scroll’s A Decade Under Modi series evaluating the Centre’s record.

Here is a summary of the week’s top stories.

Restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood. The Union territory’s statehood will be restored and the Assembly elections in the region will happen soon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. In August 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government had abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories.

In December, the Supreme Court in its verdict on petitions challenging the Centre’s decision had directed the government to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood “at the earliest and as soon as possible”. The court had also set September 2024 as the deadline for the Election Commission to conduct elections for the Legislative Assembly that is to be restored in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Opposition has said that Modi will not be doing the region any favours by restoring its statehood since he is bound to do so by the court.

Vineet Bhalla explains how the Supreme Court upheld the Modi government’s Article 370 abrogation. And Safwat Zargar explains how the death of the Gupkar alliance in Kashmir has given the BJP an edge.

Arvind Kejriwal stays in jail ahead of polls. The Delhi High Court rejected the Delhi chief minister’s plea challenging his arrest in the liquor policy case. The court said that the evidence presented by the Enforcement Directorate showed that the Aam Aadmi Party leader was involved in money laundering.

As for the timing of Kejriwal’s arrest, just before the Lok Sabha elections, the court said that its judgements were based “on legal principles not political considerations”. 

The court said that the statements of approvers in the case, whose ties to the Bharatiya Janata Party were revealed in the electoral bonds data released by the Election Commission, cannot be doubted.

Vivek Deshpande writes about why Kejriwal’s arrest is a defining moment in Indian politics.

The Supreme Court takes Patanjali to task. The court refused to accept a second apology from Patanjali Ayurved’s Managing Director Balkrishna and co-founder, yoga guru Ramdev, in a case relating to misleading advertisements. It said that the company acted in “wilful, deliberate disobedience” of assurances made to the court.

The court also ordered officers of the Uttarakhand Licensing Authority to explain why they did not act against Patanjali despite the company continuing to promote its purported medicinal cures.

In the Slow Lane newsletter last week, Tabassum Barnagarwala wrote about the brief history of Patanjali’s dangerous claims.

Religious conversion only with permission. Hindus in Gujarat wanting to convert to Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism will need to seek approval under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, the state government said. A circular issued by the home department said that these faiths were distinct from Hinduism under state law so Hindus required clearance from a district magistrate before they could convert to them.

Gujarat has seen several mass conversions in recent years of Dalits embracing Buddhism.

Nachiket Deuskar writes about why some leaders and activists feel that the strict laws against mass conversion target Dalits.

Fresh spyware attack warning by Apple. The United States-based technology giant warned several of its users in India and 91 other countries that their iPhones may have been targeted by “mercenary spyware”, including the Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus software. The company did not attribute the threats to any attacker.

“This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do,” Apple warned its users on Thursday. It is unclear how many people received threat notifications from the company.

In October, Apple had warned several Indian Opposition leaders and at least four journalists that their iPhones may have been targeted by “state-sponsored attackers”.

Zafar Aafaq writes about why India’s privileged citizens are cheerleaders for surveillance tech.

Also on Scroll this week

‘Junk EVMs, bring back ballot’: Cloud of mistrust hangs over polls in western UP

An Allahabad HC judge is using morality norms to deny protection to live-in couples

‘Will Modi visit us if we vote?’: Why this election means little for Manipur’s displaced

‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’ review: No time to think – and that’s the best thing about it

Athletics: Neeraj Chopra on Olympic title defence, competing with Kishore Kumar Jena and more

Hindustani stalwart Amarnath’s path to musical glory ran through the carnage of the Partition

Why East India remains a challenge for the BJP

‘Maidaan’ review: A halfway-there portrait of brilliant football coach Syed Abdul Rahim

Badminton Asia Championships: The final step to 2024 Paris Olympics qualification begins in China

Electoral bonds: Black money for political parties remains the elephant in the room

A Decade Under Modi, a Scroll series evaluating the Union government’s record

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