MediaNama · রাজনীতি

YouTube blocks video essay on Modi and Adani in India after government complaint

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YouTube has blocked access in India to a video essay titled “How Modi and Adani Stole India | The Friendship Files” by Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and businessman Gautam Adani, following what the platform described as a legal complaint from a government entity. The notice says the video was restricted after a review but does not identify the government entity or the legal provision invoked.

The video was taken down within a few days of being uploaded. It was originally posted on October 9 and had only 45,000 views at the time of the takedown. However, the video remains accessible via a VPN.

YouTube says it removed the video “after review”: The YouTube notice states that it had “received a legal complaint from a government entity” regarding the content. The notice further states that, “after review,” the video has been blocked in India. It also includes a link to a form through which users can raise a grievance.

The video was uploaded in collaboration with:

Bcubed (Breaking Boundaries with Sabeer Bhatia), which has over 51,100 subscribers.
Shadow Citizens, which has 406 subscribers.

Copies of the video have circulated on social media despite the block in India. The video essay’s creator, Sabeer Bhatia, posted the video on his X account, where it has garnered over 1.8 million views. He also shared the video on Google Drive and iCloud. Subsequently, several people began sharing copies of the video essay, including Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra. These duplicate copies remain accessible in India at the time of writing.

Recent developments related to Adani, including censorship:

Gujarat police used the IT Act to seek the removal of posts about Adani and Modi: In August 2026, independent journalist Aditi Agarwal reported that Gujarat police had repeatedly used the Information Technology (IT) Act to seek the removal of social media posts related to Prime Minister Modi and Adani. She based her report on X’s submissions to the Karnataka High Court in a case challenging the Sahyog Portal. Read her original reporting here.

A brief exert from Aditi Agarwal’s report:

““And whereas, it is observed that clipping and excerpts from the above-mentioned URLs are being circulated with malicious intent to mislead the public and propagate false narratives,” the notice read. It directed X to remove the tweet “with the timelines prescribed” in the IT Rules.

The link cited in the notice has been removed and its URL now reads, “Hmm…this page doesn’t exist. Try searching for something else.” X submitted that the order in question blocked “a newsworthy post about de-forestation”.

The screenshot of the tweet, appended in the takedown notice, shows a photo of a forest on hills with a cartoon of Modi and Adani. Adani is shown sitting atop Modi’s shoulders and directing him.

The tweet text talks about the Adani Group receiving stage-I approval for mining in the “ecologically critical” Hasdeo Forest of Chhattisgarh and a clearance for Stage-II would mean cutting down of nearly 4.48 lakh trees.” – Independent Journalist Aditi Agarwal

MIB orders takedown of news articles over alleged defamation; Delhi court intervenes: In September 2025, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) wrote to 12 news publishers on September 16, directing them to take down videos allegedly defamatory towards the Adani Group. The recipients included publications and individuals whose primary presence is online, such as journalists Ravish Kumar, Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Dhruv Rathee, as well as online news organisations The Wire and Newslaundry.

A Delhi court later set aside the order restraining news publishers from publishing allegedly defamatory content about the Adani Group, according to a Bar and Bench report. Read more about the case here.

Journalist jailed for one year in a defamation case: In February 2026, Indian journalist Ravi Nair was sentenced to one year in jail in a criminal defamation case filed by Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL). He was also directed to pay a fine of Rs 5,000. Read more about the case here.

Article removed from an academic publication; editor resigns: In 2017, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), an academic multidisciplinary publication, removed an article following a legal notice from Adani Power, a subsidiary of Gautam Adani’s business group that operates more than 12 power plants across several states. Journalist Aroon Deep had archived the article and posted it on X. Following the incident, EPW’s then-editor, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, resigned. He was again affected by Adani’s censorship attempts in 2025.

Allegations of Wikipedia page edits to improve Adani’s public image: In February 2023, The Signpost, a community-written and -edited online newspaper covering English Wikipedia, its sister projects and the Wikimedia Foundation, reported that Adani employees may have edited Wikipedia articles related to the group to give them a “non-neutral PR” spin. Read more about the allegations here.