YouTube geo-blocks 4 Bangladeshi TV channels in India: Dismislab
The affected channels — Jamuna TV, Ekattor TV, BanglaVision, and Mohona TV — are no longer accessible to viewers inside India
YouTube has restricted access to at least four Bangladeshi television channels in India following a takedown request from the Indian government, citing national security and public order concerns, according to Dismislab, a local digital watchdog.
The affected channels — Jamuna TV, Ekattor TV, BanglaVision, and Mohona TV — are no longer accessible to viewers inside India.
When accessed from Indian IP addresses, these channels now display a message stating: "This content is currently unavailable in this country because of an order from the government related to national security or public order."
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The geo-block, verified through VPN testing and confirmation by Dismislab, was found to be effective across India.
The verification process included manual checks of 38 Bangladeshi media channels using an Indian IP address, which confirmed that these four were inaccessible.
Journalists in New Delhi and Kolkata further confirmed the restriction.
Jamuna TV confirmed receiving an official notice from YouTube stating that its existing content, along with any future uploads, would remain blocked in India due to a government directive.
The notice explicitly cited national security and public order as reasons for the takedown.
This development comes amid heightened regional tensions following "Operation Sindoor," an Indian military action against alleged terror camps in Pakistan.
The operation has triggered intense nationalist coverage in Indian media and has coincided with a broader wave of online content restrictions by the Indian government.
On 9 May, The Wire, an independent Indian news outlet, reported that its website had been blocked nationwide.
Additionally, over 8,000 social media accounts, including those belonging to independent outlets such as Maktoob Media, The Kashmiriyat, and Free Press Kashmir, were reportedly blocked by the Indian government.
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) enforces such orders under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, which empowers the government to direct platforms to block content deemed harmful to national interests.
The blocking of Bangladeshi media comes amid a broader trend of digital censorship. In 2023 alone, India submitted 3,868 content takedown requests to Google, and over the past decade, the country has requested the removal of more than 115,000 pieces of content from Google platforms, including YouTube.
