The government of India has banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for their provocative or communally sensitive content, false or misleading narratives and misinformation against India, its army, and other security agencies. The decision was taken on Monday following the Pahalgam terror attack, according to officials.

The Pakistani YouTube channels that have been blocked include some famous ones like Dawn News, Samaa TV, Ary News and Geo News, amongst others. All 16 channels had a total of 63.08 million followers from India.

This decision to block the channels was taken after the recommendation was made by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which will continue to monitor the report of the Pahalgam attack and will flag anything that it feels undermines the severity of the situation or it’s actually incorrect.

BCC Controversy

The Indian government has also conveyed its displeasure to the BBC over its coverage of the terror attack, especially for the use of the word ‘militant’ instead of terrorists. Similar concerns were also expressed to the American news agency Associated Press and the UK-based news agency Reuters. 

“The BBC has sought to record the attacks… accurately, impartially and responsibly. We have included Prime Minister Modi’s response to the attacks prominently in our coverage. Long-standing position, reflected in the BBC‘s editorial guidelines, is to use the word terrorist with attribution. Anyone who has seen or listened to our coverage will have heard the word used in quotes and interviews,” said the BBC to national media while responding to the actions taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs.