The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (IT) has asked YouTube to remove 11 video links pertaining to Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan, who was captured by Pakistan during an aerial confrontation on Wednesday, as per reports.
Following the directive from the Home Ministry, the IT ministry had asked YouTube to remove the clips, a government source said, adding that the said links have now been removed.
When contacted, a Google (which runs YouTube) spokesperson said the firm complies with "valid legal requests from authorities wherever possible, consistent with our longstanding policy and act quickly to remove such material".
"Data on government requests to remove content from Google services is regularly updated in our transparency report," the spokesperson said.
Pakistan held Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman Wednesday after fighter jets of both the nations engaged in an air battle following an unsuccessful attempt to target Indian military installations in retaliatory strikes. Indian Air Force's MiG-21 fighter jets managed to shoot down a Pakistani jet, something that Islamabad denied.
Videos of the captured Indian Air Force pilot were being released on the internet and netizens shared these videos across social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook.
Hashtags like #BringbackAbhinandan, #SayNoToWar, #MiG21, #F16 and #PakFakeClaim were trending as netizens from both the sides of border turned to social media platforms to express their views.
(Inputs from agencies)
