By SABRANGINDIA
On June 11, the Indian government blocked a YouTube video by The Juice Media, a channel known globally for its satire on political events and issues. The channel has revealed that YouTube had notified them of the block following a request from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The video in question is titled “Honest Government Ad: India.”
The Juice Media is an Australian media channel that publishes satirical takes on governments and issues across the world. They have previously made similar satirical takedowns on political issues in Brazil, Australia, and the UK as well.
The video that is found objectionable by the government is still up on the channel’s Instagram page. The video shows a satirical take on the role of the ruling government and the recent Lok Sabha elections, even citing the ‘harassment and threats to opposition and journalists.’ Ironically the video has also called out autocrising democracies worldwide.
According to the notice issued by the government, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has cited several violations of various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for the block. Some of these include, Section 153 ( Provocation to cause a riot), Section 504 (Intent to provoke a breach of peace) and Section 505 (Making statements to cause public mischief). According to the government, the video has also violated Section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act, 1971.
This story was originally published in sabrangindia.in. Read the full story here.
