Govt blocks Twitter, YouTube links sharing BBC series on PM Modi

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Jan 21, 2023: The Centre has blocked the document series released by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) pertaining to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The move came a day after Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi deemed access to the BBC’s two-part series as a ’propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative’.

 

The BBC’s documentary titled ’India: The Modi Question’ consisted of PM Modi’s (then Gujarat CM) quizzing by a BBC reporter who asked the state leadership about the 2002 Gujarat riots and the alleged ethnic mob violence that ensued. The violence broke out allegedly after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims in Godhra was set ablaze. The violence caused casualties, resulting in more than a thousand deaths and hundreds of crimes.

On Saturday, the central government took the call to block the BBC series on YouTube and YouTube links to the BBC documentary.

As per sources, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos which published the first episode of the BBC Documentary. They said that orders were also issued to Twitter for blocking over 50 tweets pertaining to the link to the BBC series. The directions were given by the secretary of the I&B Ministry.

Both YouTube and Twitter have complied with the directions, sources said.

As per sources, the Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs and I&B examined the documentary and deemed the BBC series as an attempt to cast aspersions on the authority and credibility of the Supreme Court of India, sowing divisions among various Indian communities.

Taking to Twitter, an advisor to the I&B Ministry, Kanchan Gupta, shared the update, stating, "BBC’s vile propaganda was found to be undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India, and having the potential to adversely impact India’s friendly relations with foreign countries as also public order within the country."

He tweeted the update and also mentioned that the BBC had not released the document series in India and that certain YouTube channels uploaded the content ’to promote the anti-India agenda’. "YT has been instructed to block the video if uploaded again," Gupta said.

Courtesy: India Today