After Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) sending three notices to Twitter, the latest one asking the company to block 1,178 accounts believed to be linked to Khalistan sympathisers and those backed by Pakistan, now YouTube blocked a music video by famous Punjabi singer Kanwar Grewal titled 'Ailaan' that was related to the ongoing farmers' protest. Google-owned YouTube blocked the video on Tuesday which already garnered over 60 lakh views.
YouTube has placed a notification on the original video, saying, "This content is not available on this country domain due to a legal complaint from the government." Another video by artiste Himmat Sandhu titled 'Asi Vaddange' which had 1.3 crore views has also been blocked on the platform, as per multiple media reports. Many Punjabi celebrities and singers have come out in support of the farmers, as the government strengthens its stand on hateful and provocative accounts, posts and videos.
A YouTube spokesperson said in a statement: "We comply with valid legal requests from authorities wherever possible, consistent with our longstanding policy and act quickly to remove identified content." However, the fans of the singer posted the same video on various other channels on YouTube which can still be accessed.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Electronics and IT has also asked micro-blogging site Twitter to block 257 accounts using the #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide hashtag amid the farmers' protest, under Section 69A of the IT Act.
(With inputs from IANS)
