Outrage over Indian YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia raises social media regulation concerns

This March 20, 2018, file photo shows the YouTube app on an iPad in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

NEW DELHI — A famous YouTuber in India is facing public outrage and a police investigation after he made an allegedly obscene remark on a YouTube show, raising questions about freedom of speech in a country where digital creators in the past have come under fire for their content.

The controversy began last week when social media influencer and YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia made remarks to a participant on a comedy show about his parents' personal relationship. The joke was quickly condemned by social media users, public figures and political leaders.

Multiple police complaints were filed against Allahabadia and Samay Raina, who hosts the show “India’s Got Latent.” Both of them, along with some other participants on the show, were summoned by police for questioning and the issue was also raised in Parliament.

What was the joke about?

On the show, Allahbadia asked a contestant whether he would rather watch his parents have sex every day for the rest of his life or join in once and stop it forever.

Allahbadia, who has interviewed senior Indian ministers and Bollywood celebrities on his YouTube channel, has since apologized for the comments. Raina, meanwhile, has removed all videos of the show from his YouTube channel and said he was “fully cooperating” with the authorities.

India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday shielded Allahbadia from arrest but said his conduct showed “lack of responsibility” and was “condemnable.”

“There is something that is dirty in his mind that has been vomited by way of this program,” the judge hearing the case said.

The court also ordered Allahbadia to surrender his passport at a police station and barred him from leaving the country.

The case, however, prompted a parliamentary panel to write to the country’s Information Technology Ministry seeking steps to amend existing laws to clamp down on such content.

One lawmaker also asked Parliament to enact a law to regulate social media platforms, raising fears that the controversy will be used by the federal government to regulate online content.

Concerns over freedom of speech

Indian content creators on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and X are worried after the government last year proposed draft legislation that aims to overhaul and regulate broadcasting services in the country. The legislation, if enacted into law, would apply to all content creators including YouTubers.

Many content creators, journalists and digital experts say it could lead to censorship, stifle free speech and significantly expand the government’s powers to regulate digital media content.

“I think we are facing a threat that this particular incident might be a trigger point for obscenity laws,” said Nikhil Pahwa, a digital policy analyst and founder of the tech website MediaNama.

In Allahbadia’s case, observers say the controversy was blown out of proportion and could lead to a chilling effect on India’s comedy scene.

“The morality of the audience and the current political atmosphere is a very strong determining factor that decides whether our jokes are acceptable or not. And once a perception has been made about your content, no one can control its outcome. It is troubling,” said Anurag Minus Verma, a cultural critic based in New Delhi.

Indian comedians have faced backlash in the past

This is the not the first time Indian comedians have come under fire for their jokes and faced police crackdowns or their shows being cancelled.

Stand-up comedy has become hugely popular in recent years in India, but a swelling tide of nationalism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule has also put comedians under scrutiny for making fun of politicians or making references to religion or national icons.

In 2021, comedian Vir Das faced police complaints for his “I Come from Two Indias” show, which was critical of India over its fight against COVID-19, crimes against women and crackdowns on comedians. During his show, Das described India as a country where people “worship women during the day but gang rape them at night.”

That same year comedians Munawar Faruqui and Nalin Yadav were arrested by police for making allegedly objectionable remarks about Hindu deities while performing in an Indian state that’s ruled by Modi’s party. Faruqui was jailed for a month.

Sheikh Saaliq, The Associated Press