Union govt blocks access to yet another documentary on YouTube

In a now sadly familiar move, YouTube has blocked a documentary in India following an order from the Union information and broadcasting ministry, as per reports in the Wire and ABC News. The film in question — an episode of popular ABC TV show Four Corners titled 'Infiltrating Australia – India’s Secret War', which explores allegations of the Narendra Modi government using Indian intelligence agencies to target Indian diaspora in Australia.

What does the documentary show that the Modi government had to go all the way to get it blocked? Well, it features activists from the Sikh community in Australia, who claim that their families in India have been intimidated by Indian authorities. The film also explores how Indian officials have allegedly put in place spies to silence critics in Australia.

The documentary, which was uploaded to the video platform on 17 June, has since been geo-blocked. However, ABC News director Justin Stevens isn’t backing down, asserting that ABC "fully backs and stands by this reporting," ABC News reported.

Despite being given the option to block the video in India, ABC declined, leading YouTube to enforce the block by 27 July. Stevens adds that these attempts to muzzle journalism won't stop ABC News. "We're dismayed at efforts to silence strong journalism. It won't deter us from continuing to report any and all issues in the public interest."

The documentary in question, however, can still be viewed on ABC's own website here.

This isn’t ABC’s first run-in with censorship from the Indian government this year. Earlier, a Foreign Correspondent episode about the alleged killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar by Indian agents in Canada faced a similar fate.

This censorship led to a diplomatic scramble when ABC News South Asia bureau chief Avani Dias was initially denied a routine visa extension by the Indian government, a decision later reversed after intense lobbying by Australian diplomats and foreign affairs minister Penny Wong’s office.

Just last year, the Indian government famously blocked India: The Modi Question a two-part documentary series by the BBC scrutinising Modi’s role during the 2002 Gujarat riots.