India Bans 16 Pakistani YouTube Channels Including Shoaib Akhtar’s After Pahalgam Attack Fallout

Cricketer cum commentator Shoaib Akhtar’s YouTube channel was blocked on Monday, April 28 and that was not the only channel which was inaccessible; many others channels were also blocked for Indian Audiences. The blocking of the channels comes in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, which left 26 people lost their lives in the touristy Kashmir Valley.

The Indian Government has taken strict actions against Pakistan and has banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, including those of Dawn News, Ary News, and Geo News, on the recommendations of the Home Ministry. And Shoab Akhtar, who is popular for his cricket match analysis and key insights on Cricket matches, was also one of those blocked channels. The channels are reportedly banned for spreading provocative and false information, intending to increase communal tensions, hindering sovereignty, and security.

The officials said that the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting action has taken the action on the recommendation of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), as it was found that these channels were involved in “spreading communally sensitive content and misinformation against India.”

A senior government official said, “On the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Government of India has banned the 16 Pakistani YouTube channels including Dawn News, Samaa TV, Ary News, Geo News for disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India, its Army and security agencies in the backdrop of the tragic Pahalgam terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir.”

On recommendations of Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI today banned these Pakistani #YouTube channels disseminating provocative, communally sensitive & misleading/false contents against #India, #IndianArmy, security agencies in backdrop of tragic #PahalgamTerrorAttack in #Kashmir… pic.twitter.com/SKZb5Tdx8y

— Ejaz Kaiser (@KaiserEjaz) April 28, 2025

List of banned channels

The banned channels, which collectively have around 63 million subscribers, include major Pakistani news outlets such as Dawn News, Samaa TV, ARY News, Bol News, Geo News, Raftar, and Suno News. YouTube channels operated by journalists like Irshad Bhatti, Asma Shirazi, Umar Cheema, and Muneeb Farooq have also been blocked for Indian users. Other banned platforms include The Pakistan Reference, Samaa Sports, Uzair Cricket, and Razi Naama.

Besides the ban, the Indian government has also issued a formal notice to BBC Channel over its controversial portrayal of the Pahalgam attack and criticized the channel for referring to the attackers as militants instead of strongly condemning them as terrorists.