YouTube Reportedly Banned Two Songs on Farmers' Protests, Producer Alleges Government …

YouTube, arguably the most popular streaming app for videos on the internet, has reportedly banned two songs linked to the ongoing farmers’ protests at the Delhi-Punjab-Haryana borders. The songs, Ailan and Asi Vaddange, were produced by Harjinder Laddi and sung by Kanwar Grewal and Himmat Sandhu, respectively, and had already raked up millions of views on YouTube, before they were seemingly banned by the service. In response, Laddi has claimed that he has received intimation from YouTube’s global headquarters in California that the ban has been imposed after an intervention by India’s central government. Speaking to The Wire, Laddi said, “I spoke with a few people at the YouTube headquarters in California to understand why this was done. They told me that an external intervention by the Government of India was made through a legal complaint saying that the song violates certain rules and policies laid down by the Indian government.” MySmartPrice could not independently verify the facts behind this claim, including what rules and policies were cited by the government to put this ban in effect. The alleged move puts focus on the power of social media and technology platforms today, and the role they play in major socio-political…
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