As a row PM Modi BBC Series rages, A look at five other documentaries that faced government heat

India: The Modi question a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujrat riots, isn't the first to stoke controversy in India Here's a look at five other documentaries that faced government bans in the past.

A BBC Documentary on the 2002 Gujrat riots has stirred outrage and set off a political storm. But India The Modi Question  a part of  which examines Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alleged  role in controlling the communal violence that swept his home state of Gujrat  when he was the chief minister isn't the first documentary to court controversy in India

The response by the Indian Government was quick and draconian days after a BBC documentary on the role that Narendra Modi now prime minister had played in the 2002 communal riots in Gujrat was released, the information ministry announced that all links to the footage were to be banned on social media.

Emergency laws brought by the modi government just two years ago were used to enforce the ban.

Both Twitter and youtube quickly complied with the government's censorship requests. Posts on about 50 Twitter accounts were removed with activists politicians and even Hollywood actors among those affected, as well as an unspecified number of youtube channels. 

Widely shared the clip of the documentary which alleged that Modii in his role as chief minister of Gujarat at the time, had enabled that then done nothing to stop the violence in which almost 1000 Muslims were killed, quickly disappeared from Indian social media

 It is not the first time the Modi government has used the 2021 information technology rules to censor online content critical of the administration.

However, the action taken over the BBC documentary is among the most high profile of the legislation and sheds light on the fragile and fractious place that social media a Twitter r now occupy in India and directly pits the vow of that platform's new billionaire owner, ELON MUSK To be a free speech absolutist against increasingly authoritarian governing the country's online sphere.

Widely criticized the human rights groups and digital activists 2021 IT rules give the government power to remove any content it deems to threaten the unity integrity defense security or sovereignty of India

Even before the passing of the legislation legal demands made by the Modi government to remove content from Twitter increased by 48.000% between 2014 and 2020 according to analysts of the company's transparency reports.

The two-part BBC series documentary the rise of Modi has proved highly controversial in India, despite it only being released in the UK. Promoting allegations from the Indian foreign ministry that it was biased propaganda that showed a blatant colonial mindset.

Kanchana Gupta a spokesperson for the information ministry called the documentary hostile propaganda and into India garbage and students who arranged at a university in Karela this week were accused of being treasonous at Delhis PRESTIGIOUS Jawaharlal Nehru university students who tried the same hit with an electricity and internet blackout and had stones thrown at them by others from rightwing groups.

The BBC  has said its documentary was rigorously researched according highest editorial standards

 

Many have cited their compliance censorship of the documentary as an example of how Twitter and Youtube are helping to further erode freedom of speech in India in order to appease the Modi government and not compromise access to the vast and increasingly online Indian population there are over 40 million Twitter users in India making it their third largest market after Japan and the US.

This use of an emergency law as a censorship mechanism is a very worrying development but it's from the first time this has happened said Prateek Waghre the policy director at the advocacy group the Internet freedom foundation in India According to a statement to parliament in July action was s taken against 94 Youtube channels 19 social media accounts and 747 URLs on the government request since the IT rules passed.

By India Today Web Desk: The Us state department has said it is high time to highlight the importance the democratic principles like freedom of expression and make it a point around the world, as well as in India.

The statement by Ned Price the US State Department spokesperson came in the wake of the recent controversy surrounding the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.