YouTube blocks controversial episode
A day after he hit the spotlight with a comment on parents and sex, trouble mounted for influencer Ranveer Allahbadia on Tuesday with Mumbai police at his doorstep, YouTube pulling down the episode of “India’s Got Latent” and the issue being raised in Parliament.
The internet personality, with over 16 million followers across social media platforms, landed in soup after the clip with his comments started making the rounds on social media on Monday and led to massive debate on freedom of speech and what constitutes decency.
Allahbadia tried to defuse the situation by issuing a video apology where he called his comment a “lapse in judgement” but the issue has refused to die down. Raising the matter in Parliament during Zero Hour, Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske called for a law to regulate social media. He said there was a need to enact a law to regulate social media platforms where influencers are posting “all kinds of nonsense” in the name of freedom of speech.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday expressed strong concern and asked Allahabadia, Samay Raina, Apoorva Makhija, Jaspreet Singh, and Ashish Chanchlani, as well as the show’s producers Tushar Poojari and Saurabh Bothra to appear before it on February 17 in New Delhi.
The NCW also urged Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to take immediate regulatory measures to address the prevalence of obscene content on various over-the-top (OTT) platforms and social-media streaming sites. Following orders from the government, YouTube India has blocked the episode in which the controversial comment was made.
“The ‘India Has Latent’ (India’s Got Latent) episode on @YouTube with obscene and perverse comments by Ranveer Allahbadia has been blocked following Government of India orders,” Kanchan Gupta, senior adviser in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said in a post on X.
A team of Mumbai Police was spotted outside Allahbadia’s residence on Tuesday. The YouTuber is facing police complaints in Guwahati and Indore.
The Maharashtra Cyber Department has also registered the case under relevant sections of the IT Act and sought removal of all episodes — total 18 — of the comedy show.Summonses are being sent to about 30 guests who have participated in the show from the first episode till now, a police official said. Allahbadia, who has interviewed guests ranging from the biggest names in Bollywood to ministers like S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal and Smriti Irani, also suffered a setback for his show as singer B Praak called off an appearance on the influencer’s podcast.
From politicians to celebrities, many have called out Allahbadia’s statement offensive with some calling for a ban on the show while others batting for freedom of speech above everything. Ravi Kishan, BJP MP from Gorakhpur, termed the whole episode sad. Imtiaz Ali and actor Manoj Bajpayee also weighed in on the issue.
Mukesh Khanna said Allahbadia’s remark was “vulgar and irresponsible”.
Among the many voices criticising Allahbadia and Raina, there were a few who came out in their support.
Uorfi Javed said it is unfair to demand that somebody be jailed for their comments however distasteful they may be.
Actor Rakhi Sawant also defended Allahbadia asking the public to forgive him for his mistake. (PTI)