The Indian government recently took strict steps against Pakistan after a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam. 26 civilians lost their lives on April 22, 2025, and tensions heightened between India and neighbouring Pakistan after this attack.
India’s government has taken several decisions since the attack with one of these actions taking cricketers by surprise. A recommendation from the Ministry of Home Affairs urged the Indian government to pause access to sixteen (16) YouTube accounts within India after this attack. Some of the banned accounts are run by popular Pakistani cricketers.
The recent move by India’s government continues to highlight growing animosity between both neighbouring countries after the terror event.
Which Pakistan Cricketers’ YouTube Channels Got Banned after Pahalgam Attack?
YouTube channels of popular Pakistan cricketers like Shoaib Akhtar and Basit Ali are no longer available to audiences within India. The YouTube account of former Men in Green cricketer and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) bigwig Rashid Latif also received this indefinite ban.
Trying to visit these channels will display the following message:
“This content is currently unavailable in this country because of an order from the government related to national security or public order. For more details about government removal requests, please visit the Google Transparency Report (transparencyreport.google.com)”
What Did the Indian Government Say Regarding this Ban?
A top Indian government official revealed that the ban on YouTube channels with their base in Pakistan became necessary to avoid spreading misleading narratives. The official also said this move aimed to tackle misinformation while shutting off false news about the country’s security agencies:
“On the recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Government of India has banned the 16 Pakistani YouTube channels including Dawn News, Samaa TV, Ary News, Geo News for disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India, its Army and security agencies in the backdrop of the tragic Pahalgam terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir,” the official revealed.
Full List of Banned Pakistani YouTube Channels
India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting blocked sixteen (16) popular YouTube channels that include accounts handled by individuals and news agencies. An unnamed source reported the follower count of these banned channels:
“Dawn News TV is one of the leading [YouTube news] channels of Pakistan and has 1.9 million followers, Samaa TV channel has 12.7 m followers, Irshad Bhatti channel has 8.27 lakh followers, Ary news channel has 14.6 m followers, Bol news channel has 7.85m followers, Raftar channel has 8.04 lakh followers, The Pakistan Reference channel has 2.88 lakh followers,” the source said.
Details on other banned channels from the same source also report follower counts of other Pakistan-based platforms on YouTube:
“Geo News channel has 18.1 m followers, Samaa Sports channel has 7.35 lakh followers, GNN channel has 3.54m followers, Uzair cricket channel has 2.88 lakh followers, Umar Cheema Exclusive channel has 1.25 lakh followers, Asma Shirazi channel has 1.33 lakh followers, Muneeb Faroor channel has 1.65 lakh followers, Suno News HD channel has 1.36 m followers, and Razi Naama channel has 2.7 lakh followers,” the source added.
These accounts currently boast a total subscriber base around 63 million. Banned channels include:
- Uzair Cricket,
- Umar Cheema Exclusive,
- The Pakistan Reference,
- Suno News HD,
- Samaa TV,
- Samaa Sports,
- Razi Naama
- Raftar,
- Muneeb Farooq,
- Irshad Bhatti,
- GNN,
- Geo News,
- Dawn News,
- BOL news,
- Asma Shirazi,
- ARY News
Indian Govt Ministry Writes Strong-Worded Letter to BBC After Reporting on Pahalgam Terror Attack
The Ministry of External Affairs penned a letter to the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) India expressing their displeasure over the network’s reporting of the terror incident. A BBC India report after the dastardly attack tagged the terrorist elements as “militants”.
India’s external affairs ministry has now come out to express their concerns through a letter as confirmed by a trusted source:
“New Delhi’s concerns have been strongly conveyed to the BBC by the MEA XP Division, and now the XP Division will be monitoring further reporting of the BBC,” the source said.
Other reports also suggest multiple messages from Pakistan are targeting Indians with funding calls to finance a potential war. Several of these URLs originating from Pakistan have been blocked in recent days:
“The Centre has issued directions to all the ministries, departments, and agencies to strengthen their cyber system to prevent any cyber-attack generated from the Pakistan-based hacker groups,” the source added.
