India Bans 16 Pakistani YouTube Channels for Spreading Provocative Content

New Delhi : Following the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, India has banned 16 YouTube channels from Pakistan for allegedly disseminating provocative content. These channels collectively had over 63 million subscribers. The ban was imposed on the recommendation of the Ministry of Home Affairs and includes major news outlets and journalists.

The banned platforms include prominent news outlets such as Dawn, Samaa TV, ARY News, BOL News, Raftaar, Geo News, and Suno News. The YouTube channels of journalists Irshad Bhatti, Asma Shirazi, Umar Cheema, and Muneeb Farooq have also been banned. Other handles that faced restrictions include The Pakistan Reference, Samaa Sports, Uzair Cricket, and Razi Nama.

In addition, the Indian government has issued a warning to the BBC over a headline that read: “Pakistan suspends visas for Indians after deadly attack on tourists in Kashmir.” The government objected to the BBC referring to the terrorist involved as a “militant” in its report.

According to officials, these YouTube channels were broadcasting inflammatory, communal, false, and misleading content targeting India, the Indian Armed Forces, and security agencies amid already tense relations between the two neighboring countries following the Pahalgam attack.

The Pahalgam terror attack resulted in the brutal killing of 25 tourists and one Kashmiri by terrorists, an incident that has drawn widespread condemnation.