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Expressing concern about the Union government ordering the blocking of the digital news outlet 4 PM’s YouTube channel, the Editors Guild of India on Thursday demanded a “transparent and accountable mechanism” for the takedown of journalistic content.
The press association said that it was “deeply concerned” by the government’s directive to block access to 4PM News’ YouTube channel on grounds of national security or public order “without any disclosure of the specific reasons or evidence, and without following principles of natural justice”.
“National security cannot become a pretext to silence critical voices or independent reporting,” it added.
On Tuesday, YouTube said that the channel of 4 PM News was “unavailable in this country because of an order from the government related to national security or public order”.
The YouTube channel had about 7.3 million subscribers. It was not clear what led the government to order the blocking of the channel.
Sanjay Sharma, the editor-in-chief of 4 PM News, claimed that the ban was an attempt to “crush a strong voice of democracy in the name of national security”.
The channel had uploaded several videos criticising the Narendra Modi-led Union government after the Pahalgam terror attack, Newslaundry reported.
‘Increasing curbs on free speech’
On Thursday, the Editors Guild described the government order to block the YouTube channel as an “opaque use of executive power”. The blocking was in line with a “troubling pattern the guild has flagged earlier – of increasing curbs on free speech through non-transparent processes”, said the press body.
It flagged the example of the Union government blocking the Tamil news website Vikatan in February.
The website was blocked after it published on February 10 a cartoon in the digital magazine Vikatan Plus depicting Modi with his hands and legs chained, sitting across from United States President Donald Trump.
This had come against the backdrop of the US deporting several Indians as part of Trump’s wider crackdown on undocumented migrants.
The Editors Guild said that the Vikatan website was blocked “without warning or due process”.
“Although the Madras High Court later ordered interim relief, the case reflected the government’s growing tendency to suppress journalistic expression through opaque executive orders,” it added.
This article first appeared on Scroll.in
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