India bans world’s most popular Pakistani channel — Geo News

NEW DELHI: India on Monday launched a sweeping crackdown on social media on Monday, banning more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels of news outlets, including Geo News — world’s most watched Pakistani news channel — for spreading what it called “provocative” content following the Pahalgam attack in the occupied Kashmir.

The Press Trust of India, which listed 16 news channels, cited a government statement, saying the channels were blocked for “disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India”.

The banned platforms include the YouTube channels of Pakistani news outlets — Geo News, Dawn, Samaa TV, Samaa Sports, ARY News, Bol News, Raftar, Suno News, GNN and youtube channels run by Umar Cheema, Asma Shirazi, Muneeb Farooq, Irshad Bhatti, besides Pakistan Reference, Uziar Cricket and Razi Nama. The sites were blocked in with a message reading it was due to an “order from the government related to national security or public order.”