New Delhi : Videos of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question” have been blocked from multiple YouTube channels and tweets sharing the links of this documentary have also been blocked in India.
As per informed sources, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued directions for blocking of multiple YouTube videos which published the first episode of the documentary. Orders were also issued to Twitter for blocking of over 50 tweets containing the links of the YouTube videos concerned.
The directions were reportedly issued by Secretary, Information and Broadcasting, on Friday using the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021. Both YouTube and Twitter have complied with the directions,sources said.
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. 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.
Reliable sources have confirmed that senior officials of multiple Ministries, including Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, examined the documentary and found it to be an attempt to cast aspersions on the authority and credibility of the Supreme Court of India, besides sowing divisions among various Indian communities, and make unsubstantiated allegations regarding actions of foreign Governments in India.
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, sources said.
Meanwhile, a total of 302 signatories, including retired judges, bureaucrats and armed forces veterans, have co-signed a statement rebutting the BBC documentary on PM Narendra Modi.
