India Blocks YouTube Channels of Bangladeshi Activists and Journalists
India has blocked the YouTube channels of several Bangladeshi online activists, bloggers, and journalists, including Pinaki Bhattacharya, Elias Hossain, Dr. Kanak Sarwar, and Zulkar Nine Saer. The development was confirmed late Saturday night (May 10) through a verified Facebook post by Pinaki Bhattacharya. Subsequently, Zulkar Nine Saer also reported that his YouTube channel had been blocked.
This move follows a recent disclosure by social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that approximately 8,000 accounts have been blocked in India.
Commenting on the incident, Pinaki Bhattacharya wrote in his Facebook post: “India has blocked the YouTube channels of mine, Elias, and Kanak. Bharatmata knows her enemies.”
He further added, “Now can you recognize who the enemies of Pinaki, Elias, and Kanak are in Bangladesh?”
Meanwhile, journalist Zulkar Nine Saer posted: “What’s my crime, brother? I barely posted anything since opening that YouTube channel, and even that got banned by Bharatmata in their country.”
Earlier, on Friday (May 9), at the request of the Indian government, YouTube blocked at least six Bangladeshi television channels on its platform. According to a report by DismissLab, under India’s Information Technology Act, the government has the authority to order the blocking of content if it is deemed a threat to national security, sovereignty, or public order.
