The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has sent Govt Orders to several journalists, media outlets, and creators, including Ravish Kumar, Dhruv Rathee, Newslaundry, The Wire, HW News, and Aakash Banerjee’s The Deshbhakt. The order is based on a Delhi court’s gag order in a defamation case filed by Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL).
Govt Orders mention 138 Youtube Links, 83 Insta Posts to be removed
The notice mentions 138 YouTube links and 83 Instagram posts. Newslaundry must remove 42 videos from its YouTube channel. The ministry states that the court order was issued on September 6 and that the media organizations did not remove the links as required.
The flagged content includes not just investigative reports but also satire and incidental mentions. For example, a video appealing for NL subscriptions was flagged simply because it showed a screenshot of an Adani story. An interview with comedian Kunal Kamra, where he joked about censorship, was also included. Kamra commented, “If I post that Adani is our coal minister—that’s satire in my book. But under this regime, the government can say it’s false and strike it down.”
People targeted the Adani in Videos after court order
Episodes of TV Newsance, along with an explanation of how the cases against NDTV’s former owners Prannoy and Radhika Roy were dropped after the Adani takeover of the channel, are also part of the takedown list. Reports on the Dharavi project and episodes of Newslaundry’s weekly podcast NL Hafta, NL Charcha, and NL Tippani are included as well.
Three videos featuring journalist Atul Chaurasia, including discussions about the case against Adani in the US, are also targeted. The Govt Orders for removal of interviews of NCP leaders Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar conducted by journalist Sreenivasan Jain.
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