The central government has banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels for disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives, and misinformation against India amid tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad following the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 people were gunned down and several others sustained injuries.

The decision comes on the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), days after India announced several punitive measures, including the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, against Pakistan for its involvement in cross-border terrorism.

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The banned YouTube channels include those of leading Pakistani news outlets such as Dawn, ARY News, Geo News, Samaa TV, Bol News, Raftar, and Suno News. Additionally, YouTube channels of prominent journalists, including Irshad Bhatti, Asma Shirazi, Muneeb Farooq, and Umar Cheema, have been blocked.

Uzair Cricket, The Pakistan Reference, Razi Naama, and Samaa Sports are other well-known YouTube Channels that are among those blocked by India for spreading false and provocative agendas.

According to the Centre, the banned YouTube channels were involved in spreading provocative and communally charged content. They were also found to be disseminating false and misleading narratives against India following the Pahalgam terror attack. The channels had a total of 63 million subscribers.

Meanwhile, the Centre has also written to BBC India head Jackie Marti, conveying its strong sentiments regarding the British broadcaster’s reporting on the Pahalgam terrorist attack. The government has flagged the BBC’s use of “militants” for the terrorists who killed Indian and foreign tourists.

India is closely monitoring the BBC’s reporting on the brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district. The government is also believed to have objected to the BBC referring to Jammu and Kashmir as “Indian-administered Kashmir”.

A BBC article with a headline “Pakistan suspends visas for Indians after deadly Kashmir attack on tourists” was also flagged by several users as it sounded misleading. The headline appeared to blame India for the killings, and Pakistan suspended visas for Indians after the attack.

At least 26 people, including a foreign national, were killed in the targeted attack on tourists at Baisaran meadow near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Earlier, the US government’s House Foreign Affairs Committee had corrected a New York Times article with a headline, “At least 24 tourists gunned down by militants in Kashmir”. In a social media post, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee said that it was a terrorist attack and that they corrected the headline.