Congress again targets YouTube, accuses it of playing in hands of ruling dispensation

New Delhi, Oct 19 : Congress on Thursday again targeted at the Google owned YouTube platform for putting a warning tagline on Rahul Gandhi’s and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s speeches made in Telangana.

Congress accused YouTube of playing into the hands of the ruling dispensation in India which has been desperately trying to block the messaging from the Opposition.

“Only a few days ago, the Washington Post revealed how social media platforms including YouTube were playing into the hands of the ruling dispensation in India.The article had also mentioned that the messages of the Opposition were being suppressed,” Congress General Secretary (Communication) Jairam Ramesh wrote on X.

Slamming the YouTube, the Congress leader said that today the YouTube India has vindicated what the Washington Post wrote and what were already our “genuine apprehensions”.

“By putting a warning tagline on Rahul Gandhi’s and Priyanka Gandhi’s speeches, made in Telangana yesterday, that the content ‘may contain suicide or self-harm topics’, YouTube has proved beyond any doubt that it is playing into the hands of India’s ruling dispensation which has been desperately trying to block the messaging from the Opposition,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

The Congress leader asked, “Will Google, which owns YouTube, explain what is ‘suicidal or self-harming’ in their speeches? Will now raising issues that matter to the people be censored?”

“ We have written to them in the past and we will keep raising our voice in the future for a level-playing field and an unbiased approach from global social media companies—a critical necessity today for free and fair elections in India and all over the world,” Ramesh said, while attaching a screengrab of the warning put by the YouTube on the video of the Gandhi siblings Telangana’s speech.

The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties had written to Metas Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai saying they are culpable of abetting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India.

It also alleged algorithmic moderation and suppression of Opposition leaders content on their platform while promoting ruling party (BJP) content.

INDIA parties also warned the two companies that in view of the upcoming national elections in 2024, it should consider these facts "seriously" and ensure immediately that Metas and Alphabets operations "in India remain neutral" and are not used wittingly or unwittingly to cause social unrest or distort Indias much cherished democratic ideals.

aks/dan