The Union Government on Monday (December 12) issued orders to ban Pakistan-based OTT streaming platform Vidly TV, with immediate effect, for the dissemination of anti-India content.
The orders to immediately block the platform’s website, two mobile apps, four social media accounts and one smart TV app were issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) under the new IT Rules, 2021.
As per the ministry, the streaming platform recently aired a web series ‘Sevak: The Confessions’ that was found to be detrimental to India’s national security, sovereignty and integrity.
“Action against Pakistan-based Vidly TV follows the assessment that the provocative and wholly untrue web-series ‘Sevak’ was sponsored by Pakistan’s info ops apparatus. First (of 3) episode was released on 26.11.2022, anniversary of Pakistani terror attacks on Mumbai in 2008,” tweeted Kanchan Gupta, a senior advisor to the ministry.
Authorities flagged a slew of objectionable scenes throughout the series, which prompted authorities to impose the ban. These objections include:
- The opening credit scene of the series showing the Ashok Chakra of the Indian flag on fire
- The web series, according to the centre, showed a distorted version of sensitive historical events pertaining to India
- Portrayed anti-India narrative on sensitive events including Operation Blue Star, demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Malegaon blasts, and Samjhauta Express blasts, among others
- A scene in which a Hindu priestess is urging Hindu children to grow up to kill Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs and cleanse the motherland from their filthy existence
- Several dialogues in the web series were seen as maliciously shown with strong communal tones and illustrating the violence and police action as being inspired by religious reasons
- A TV news grab quoting a fictional home minister that “Muslims, Sikhs and Christians are India’s internal threat”
The MIB order specifically accused the web series of ‘promoting separatism, disaffection, and disenchantment among the Sikh community towards India’ with an intention of sowing ‘hatred and division’ among Indian communities.
In September, the ministry issued orders to block 45 videos on 10 YouTube channels for being detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
In the same month, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued orders to immediately block access to 67 pornographic websites on the orders of the government and the Uttarakhand High Court.
In August, the ministry blocked eight YouTube-based news channels, one Facebook account, and two Facebook posts for similar reasons. So far, more than 100 YouTube channels have been banned by the central government in exercise of its powers under the new IT Rules to curb such content and misinformation.