India blocks Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s YouTube channel amid rising tensions

As the Indian government has been taking stern actions against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people last month, India on Friday (May 2) blocked Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s official YouTube account. 

The Indian government also banned social media accounts of several Pakistani celebrities, including Hania Aamir, Mahira Khan, Sajal Aly and Ali Zafar. 

As we open the account of Shehbaz Sharif on YouTube, it reads, “This content is currently unavailable in this country because of an order from the government related to national security or public order. For more details about government removal requests, please visit the Google Transparency Report.” 

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Blocking Shehbaz Sharif’s YouTube channel comes as the biggest high-profile account blocked by the Indian government, after Pakistan Finance Minister Khawaja Asif and the ISPR, which is the Pakistan army’s propaganda wing.

Hania Aamir enjoys a huge fan following in India. Instagram profiles of prominent Pakistani celebrities such as Zafar, Iqra Aziz, Sanam Saeed, Bilal Abbas, Imran Abbas, and Sajal Aly are no longer accessible in India. 

The government not only banned accounts of Shehbaz Sharif and celebrities but also banned YouTube channels of Pakistani media outlets, including Dawn News, Samaa TV, Ary News and Geo News. 

Also read: ‘Fear of social media ban in India? Pakistani TikTok star Jannat Mirza refuses to support Pak army on Pahalgam terror attack

Moreover, former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar’s YouTube channel, which had over 3.5 million subscribers, also came under the government’s radar and was blocked. 

When Indian Instagram users tried to access their Instagram accounts, they got the message, reading, “Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content.” 

All this happened in response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 people. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered the blocking of several Pakistani YouTube channels and social media accounts that were found to be sharing misleading content aimed at undermining India’s sovereignty. 

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