India blocks Pakistani YouTube channels after Pahalgam terror attack

Several YouTube channels based in Pakistan were banned for Indian audiences on Monday as tensions flared between the two nation in the backdrop of the Pahalgam terrorist attack last week. Ministry of Home Affairs issued a list of 16 YouTube channels to be banned in India, ANI reported, including those run by major news channels of the neighbouring country.

The list of 16 banned channels included those operated by Dawn News, Samaa TV, ARY News, Geo News and more. As per the list shared by ANI, these channels have over 63 million subscribers.

The ban was imposed on recommendations by Ministry of Home Affairs for "disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India, its Army and security agencies in the backdrop of the tragic Pahalgam terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir", the news agency said.




Apart from the 16 YouTube channels mentioned in the list, several others from Pakistan were also inaccessible in India, including those by The Pakistan Experience podcast, cricket analyst Wasay Habib, and journalists Syed Muzammil and Arzoo Kazmi.

The crackdown on YouTube channels comes as India and Pakistan are on loggerheads again in the wake of a terrorist attack in Pahalgam region of Jammu and Kashmir on April 22. Attackers killed 26 tourists in Baisaran Valley in what has been called the deadliest incident since the 208 Mumbai attacks.

With tensions rising India has suspended the Indus Water Treaty, closed borders, cancelled visas for certain Pakistani nationals in the country and expelled diplomats from the neighbouring nation. Pakistan, on the other hand, has cancelled the Simla Agreement, closed trade with India and restricted airspace for flights from India.

Armies of both nations have been engaged in multiple instances of cross-border firing since tensions escalated.