Video-sharing platform YouTube blocked a music video by famous Punjabi singer Kanwar Grewal titled 'Ailaan', which was related to the farmers’ protests, on Tuesday. The video reportedly raked in over 60 lakh views on Google-owned YouTube. According to reports, another video by artist Himmat Sandhu, titled 'Asi vaddange' (We will break you), which had 1.3 crore views, has also been blocked on the platform.
The move by YouTube comes at a time when the Indian government has been cracking down on social media platforms, including Twitter, for not blocking or removing posts criticising the Narendra Modi government amid the farmers’ protest. YouTube has placed a notification on the original video. It said, "This content is not available in his country domain due to a legal complaint from the government."
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 music video on various other channels on YouTube, which can still be accessed.
The producers of the songs told The Wire that they were not intimated before the songs were removed from the platform. The producer, Harjinder Laddi, said he is waiting for an intimation from YouTube after they assured him that they will provide him with details within 48 hours. He also said that the YouTube cited "external intervention by the Indian government" behind the move.
Several Punjabi celebrities and singers have come out in support of farmers, as the government toughens its stand on accounts, posts and videos in the light of the months-long protest by farmers near New Delhi.
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has sent three notices to Twitter, the latest one asking the company to block 1,178 accounts, which the Ministry claimed to be linked to Khalistan sympathisers and those backed by Pakistan.
In another notice, MeitY had asked Twitter to block 257 accounts using the #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide hashtag amid the farmers' protest, under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act
(With inputs from IANS)