India blocks YouTube channels of 6 TV stations

The Bangladesh government has warned of "reciprocal action" after YouTube blocked six of its television channels from being accessed in India "at the request of the Indian government", which cited national security concerns.

Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief adviser for the ministry of posts, telecommunications, and information technology, said Bangladesh will seek a formal explanation from the platform and, if none is provided, it may take reciprocal action.

He said in a Facebook post YouTube that India has geo-blocked at least four Bangladeshi television stations.

"By blocking Bangladesh as a broadcast location, the rights of Bangladeshi citizens living in India who regularly watch these channels are being infringed upon. Such an action appears to go against international consumer rights norms."

The blocked Bangladeshi channels -- Jamuna TV, Ekattor TV, BanglaVision, Mohona TV, Somoy TV, and DBC News -- are all YouTube-verified and together have over 54 million subscribers. Indian users trying to access these channels now receive the message: "This content is currently unavailable in this country because of an order from the government related to national security or public order."

Digital rights research group Digitally Right, through its initiative Dismiss Lab, first reported on Friday that four YouTube channels Bangladeshi TV stations had been blocked in India. The figure was updated to six in a revised report on Saturday.

Jamuna TV confirmed to Dismislab that they received official notifications from YouTube regarding the blocking.

Geo-blocking is the practice of limiting access to digital content based on the user's geographic location. In this instance, while the Bangladeshi channels remain available worldwide, their content has been specifically made inaccessible to viewers in India.