Centre has withdrawn order to block our YouTube channel: ‘4PM News’ tells SC
Digital news outlet 4PM News on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the Union government has withdrawn an order blocking its YouTube channel, Live Law reported.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AS Masih was hearing a petition filed by Sanjay Sharma, the editor-in-chief of 4PM News, against the order issued on the grounds of “national security”. Advocate Kapil Sibal, for 4PM News, told the court that the blocking order had been withdrawn.
On April 29, the YouTube channel of 4PM News was blocked by the Union government. YouTube said that the channel was “unavailable in [India] because of an order from the government related to national security or public order”. The channel has about 7.3 million subscribers.
Sharma claimed that the ban was an attempt to “crush a strong voice of democracy in the name of national security”. The channel had uploaded several videos criticising the Narendra Modi-led Union government after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which left 26 dead, Newslaundry reported.
On May 5, the court asked the Union government to respond to Sharma’s petition.
On Tuesday, Sibal urged the bench to keep the plea pending because the petitioner had also challenged the constitutionality of the rules permitting such blocking under the Information Technology Act, Bar and Bench reported.
The bench agreed to the request and tagged the petition with another pending matter challenging the rules.
In his petition before the court, Sharma...
Read more
News