Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam incident, India has suspended Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s YouTube channel. This move follows the blocking of several Pakistani celebrities’ social media accounts.
The Indian government took action after a video of PM Sharif’s speech at the Kakul Academy was uploaded on his YouTube channel.
The video was later removed after the Indian government filed a complaint. YouTube has confirmed that Sharif has the right to appeal the decision.
These actions by the Indian government are seen by many as attempts to silence alternative perspectives on the Pahalgam attack. Earlier, India had blocked former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar’s YouTube channel in response to the incident in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
In a broader crackdown on freedom of speech, India has also blocked the YouTube channels of former cricketers Basit Ali and Rashid Latif, alongside Shoaib Akhtar’s.
Akhtar’s channel, which has over 3.5 million followers, is popular for his candid views on cricket and various societal issues.
In addition to these bans, India has shut down 16 Pakistani news channels, many of which raised questions about the Pahalgam tragedy.
Pakistani YouTube channels, collectively boasting around 63 million subscribers, include major outlets like ARY News, Dawn News, Samaa TV, Bol News, Raftar, Geo News, and Suno News, according to reports from The Hindu.