YouTube news channel '4 PM,' with 7.3 million subscribers, was banned on Tuesday, April 29, following an order issued by the Indian government citing 'national security or public order.'
A message on the 4PM YouTube page now reads: 'This content is currently unavailable in this country due to an order from the government related to national security or public order.'
"Calling it a 'murder of democracy,' the channel's founder and editor-in-chief, Sanjay Sharma, said he received an email from YouTube on Tuesday morning notifying him that the channel had been banned pursuant to the government's orders.
'May be Due to Pahalgam Videos'
Speaking to The Quint, Sharma claimed that while no detailed explanation has been provided by the government yet, he suspects that the recent videos on the channel about the Pahalgam attacks may be the reason.
Since the April 22 attack, several videos on the channel have been critical of the government, with some featuring captions like 'Laal kaaleen par Amit Shah ka swaagat. Mritakon ko shraddhanjali dene gaye the ya tamasha banaane?' (Amit Shah welcomed on a red carpet. Was he there to offer condolences to the dead or to put up a show?) and 'Sindhu samjhauta todne ki hawabzi ko lekar phas gaye Modi, Pakistan ko paani kam nahi, zyada mil raha hai' (PM Modi faffing about the Indus water treaty, Pakistan is getting more water, not less)."
Sharma added that he did not receive any prior notice, and the authorities did not flag any specific video as a 'threat to security.'
"We don't make videos against our country. Our nation is our first priority. The only thing we did was ask questions about the Pahalgam attack. Why was there no security at the time of the attack? Why were tourists allowed in Baisaran Valley? These are reasonable questions and should be asked," Sharma told The Quint.
In a statement posted on X, Sharma had earlier called the move an attack on the freedom of the press.
'Under the pretext of national security, the government is trying to curb a strong voice of democracy,' he wrote. 'Modi is not the country. Questioning the government should not be a crime. In a democracy, we have the right to raise our voices.'"
'Not the First Time...'
Recounting previous instances of action against the channel, Sharma noted that once, after posting a video on China and the Ladakh region, then I&B minister Anurag Thakur had urged YouTube to block the channel but the ban was not implemented due to the video's 'credibility.'
During the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, the channel was briefly taken down for four to five days, but legal proceedings ultimately ruled in its favor, he said.
"As you can see, this is not the first time this has happened. I have always been a target for the government, and they have repeatedly launched investigations against me. My channel is one of the biggest political commentators, and the fact that we run it from Uttar Pradesh is something the government cannot digest."Sanjay Sharma, Editor-in-Chief of 4PM
When asked if he plans to take any legal action, Sharma said, "I have written an email to both the Ministry and YouTube, asking which video they deemed to be a security threat. I would have taken corrective action had we been informed, but the government decided to proceed arbitrarily without providing any prior notice."
"We have a population of 140 crores. Shouldn't we question the government if we have any security concerns? Isn't it our responsibility to ask why there wasn't any security in Pahalgam? Asking questions is not a national security threat; it's the opposite of that."
Meanwhile, Sharma has said that the channel will continue operating through its regional platforms and has urged people to subscribe to them.
The ban on 4PM marks the second major digital takedown in 48 hours. This comes a day after the Indian government blocked 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, including Dawn and Geo News, for allegedly spreading false narratives about the Pahalgam terror attack and India's military response.
Earlier, the government also issued a notice to BBC India regarding its 'incorrect' terminology that referred to the Pahalgam terrorists as 'militants.'