Serious allegations have been raised against YouTube of conspiring to ‘shadow ban’ any neutral coverage on the upcoming results of Indian elections, while the employees of the American social media giant have been instructed to promote negative propaganda targeting ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a post on ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter), Indian journalist Roshan Dua stated, “BEWARE| I’m hearing India’s intelligence agencies have been supplied with recorded conversations of 17 @YouTubeIndia employees in India who explicitly wrote & spoke instructions on how to shadow ban any neutral coverage & promote anti @narendramodi trash. It’s a criminal offence to influence polls & I have been told investigation have begun”.
He further said, “I have been told these employees include 5 females & 12 males & are from Mumbai, Kerala & West Bengal. These employees are suspected to have altered YT algorithm, slap indiscriminate & arbitrary bans on 93 journalists & 42 channels who reported neutrally on BJP this election”.
Roshan Dua also wrote, “India has to make @YouTubeIndia & its employees accountable for the dirty job if they have done to either manipulate elections in India by amplifying their reach or by stalling others. It’s a clear case of criminal conspiracy under 127A, 120 B & 171B/R bribery charges of IPC”.
India’s oldest newspaper The Organiser in a report titled – ‘India’s intelligence agencies investigating 17 YouTube India employees for shadow banning nationalist content’ stated, “Polling for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections concluded on June 1, and with the release of exit polls, this period becomes crucial for political creators and journalists. Many have transitioned to platforms like YouTube, becoming full-time YouTube journalists due to the rise of digital media. However, a recent exposé reveals that numerous YouTubers are experiencing shadow bans and demonetization, restricting their contents from reaching viewers.
“These creators have taken to social media to demand action against what they perceive as partial treatment by YouTube India and relevant ministries, but their appeals have gone unanswered. Prominent voices among them include senior journalist Ajeet Bharti, Editor of The New Indian Rohan Dua, TV journalist Sushant Sinha, Jaipur Dialogues, and YouTube creators AKTK and Ankur Arya, among others…”
The Analyzer in a post on ‘X’ stated: “Big breaking. Around 17 employees of YouTube India are on agencies’ radar for tweaking the algorithm to favor anti-Modi content during the recent elections. The employees explicitly wrote and spoke instructions on how to shadow-ban any neutral coverage of Indian elections and promote an anti-Narendra Modi narrative”.
The Jaipur Dialogues in a post stated, “We faced it. Our content was Suppressed because we favor Modi and BJP. We have a list of Youtubers who were targeted – 1. Ajeet Bharti 2. Abhishek Tiwari 3. Def Talks by Adi 4. The Jaipur Dialogues +50”.
Meanwhile, Facebook also has started deleting posts or comments critical to Rahul Gandhi, Indian National Congress, I-N-D-I-A alliance, Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party, Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress and other opposition forces, while this platform’s algorithm is suspiciously giving optimum reach to any post or video that criticize BJP and Modi.
It may be mentioned here that, Facebook’s content moderation team for India and Bangladesh comprises a very large number of Pakistani nationals who work as free-lancers, while anti-India elements in Pakistan as well as Khalistani terrorists are boosting anti-India, anti-BJP and anti-Modi posts and video on Facebook.
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