The social media accounts of the Pakistan Super League, as well as multiple Pakistan cricketers including Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi, have been withheld in India.
On April 22, a terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, accounted for the lives of 26 people. The following day, the incident was acknowledged by the BCCI, implementing commemorative measures as mark of respect ahead of the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Ten days on, tensions between India and Pakistan have continued to rise, with the Indian government accusing Pakistan of supporting cross-border terrorism, with Pakistan denying any involvement in the attack.
On April 28, India's government banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels from broadcasting in India, citing the reason as "disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India, its Army and security agencies".
Among these were a few cricket-related channels, including Samaa Sports and Uzair Cricket. Since the initial blocking of channels, that of popular cricket YouTubers Wasay Habib and Syed Qamar Raza, known as 'Wasay & Iffi', has also been blocked. Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's YouTube channel was also blocked in India on May 2.
This isn't restricted to cricket: social media accounts of Pakistan filmstars and other celebrities have also been withheld in India. The Indian government hasn't publicly commented on the decision to make these accounts offline.
PSL, Babar, Shaheen among social media accounts withheld in India
On Friday (May 2), it emerged that several other Pakistan-based social media accounts were not accessible from India. The X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram handles of Pakistan internationals Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi, among others, are currently withheld.
The X platform states that the accounts have been "withheld in IN [India] in response to a legal demand." The platform's Help Center says such a message means "X was compelled to withhold the original post in response to a valid legal demand, such as a court order."
On Instagram, Meta's messages say, "We received a legal request to restrict this content. We reviewed it against our policies and conducted a legal and human rights assessment. After the review, we restricted access to the content in the location where it goes against local law."
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It is the same story across the platforms with the official accounts of the Pakistan Super League, which is currently ongoing – overlapping with the IPL for the first time. Official accounts of the PSL teams have also been withheld in India.
A couple of days after the Pahalgam attack, the PSL broadcaster in India, FanCode, suspended its streaming of the tournament (this was not a government mandate). Following that, PSL matches were briefly visible in India via the Sports Central YouTube channel, but that channel has since been withheld in India.
YouTube's message states: "This content is currently unavailable in this country because of an order from the government related to national security or public order."
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