A digital news portal National Dastak said on Monday, April 8, that the Union government has asked YouTube to remove its channel from the platform. With over 9.4 million subscribers, the channel describes itself as a voice for Dalits, Adivasis, farmers, women, and other marginalised groups.
“The government wants to shut down National Dastak,” the news portal posted on micro-blogging site X, adding that “YouTube sent a notice on April 3. Another platform Article 19 has also received a notice. All this is happening while the code of conduct is in force. Lakhs of newspapers and TV news channels are running. Bahujans are so afraid of National Dastak.”
The development comes days after another digital news portal, Bolta Hindustan, was removed from YouTube on April 4 at the behest of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
In an email addressed to National Dastak, YouTube said it received a notice from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to take down the channel in compliance with Rule 15(2) of the Information Technology Rules, 2021, along with Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000.
The Union government is afraid of a news portal for the Dalits while lakhs of newspapers and television news channels are allowed to run, the news organization said.
Talking to Siasat.com, Shambu Kumar Singh, senior editor of National Dastak said, “The government has asked YouTube to remove our channel and they don’t want to give any reason for the same. Our channel has been targeted because we ask questions to those in power.”
When asked if National Dastak plans to contest the government order, he said, “We are not a political party and we don’t have enough money to fight against the government. We do plain and simple journalism. We are still thinking over what options we have if the YouTube blocks our channel.”
Section 69 of the IT Act gives authorised personnel in the Union government, not below the rank of a joint secretary, the power to send content removal orders to social media platforms. The government can use this Act to block content from online intermediaries if the content threatens national security, sovereignty, or public order.
Another portal, Article 19, also faced similar restrictions. Its founder, Navin Kumar, said on April 4 that Facebook restricted their page.
