Govt blocks BBC Documentary on PM Modi on YouTube, bans links on Twitter

The Indian government has ordered YouTube to block a video that published the first episode of the controversial BBC documentary made on the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Along with the YouTube video, the government has also blocked over 50 tweets that shared the link to the video on YouTube. Both YouTube and Twitter have complied with the directive and blocked access to the content. The government has also given out statements regarding the blockage of these links.

The controversial documentary published by the BBC was termed by the Ministry of External Affair as a propaganda piece. Senior officials of the Union home ministry, external affairs ministry and the information and broadcasting ministry have said that they examined the documentary and found it to be an attempt to defame the authority and the credibility of the Supreme Court of India.

Govt bans PM Modi BBC documentary on YouTube

"The documentary was accordingly found to be undermining sovereignty and integrity of India, and having the potential to adversely impact India's friendly relations with foreign States as also public order within the country," said sources in a report to Hindustan Times.

"The documentary produced by British Broadcasting Corporation, UK’s Public Broadcaster, has been earlier called by MEA as a "propaganda piece" that lacks objectivity and reflects colonial mindset. While it was not made available in India by BBC in India, some YouTube channels appear to have uploaded it to promote an anti-India agenda. It is reported that YouTube has also been instructed to block the video if it is again uploaded on its platform. Twitter has also been directed to identify and block the tweets containing the link to the video on other platforms," an official said.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry issued the directives to both YouTube and Twitter under the IT Rules, 2021. As of now, the links on both these platforms are removed and there is no more access to these.