India bans 16 Pakistani YouTube channels inciting communal hatred after Pahalgam terror attacks

NEW DELHI: In the wake of the barbaric Pahalgam terror attack, India banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, including those of leading news agencies and former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar.

The step was initiated to stymie the spread of communal content and misinformation against India, its army and security agencies.

Those banned include major Pakistani news channels such as Dawn News, Samaa TV, AIR News, Bol News, Raftar, Geo News, and Suno News, which have approximately a combined 63 million subscribers.

Indians will also no longer be able to view the YouTube channels of journalists like Irshad Bhatti, Asma Shirazi, Umar Cheema, and Muneeb Farooq. Other banned channels include The Pakistan Reference, Samaa Sports, Uzair Cricket, and Razi Nama.

According to the central government, these banned channels were busy inciting communal hatred and spreading surmises about the Indian army and the terror attack. The YouTube channels also tried to run propaganda to justify the terror attack in Kashmir.

People still trying to access these channels from India will get this message: "This content is currently unavailable in the country due to government orders regarding national security or public order. For more information, please visit the Google Transparency Report."