YouTube blocks access to Fifth Estate story on killing of B.C. Sikh activist at India's demand

YouTube is blocking access in India to a story by CBC's The Fifth Estate on the al‐ leged contract killing of a Canadian Sikh separatist after the Indian govern‐ ment ordered the social media platform to take that action.

The Fifth Estate story re‐ leased on Friday included video of the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar last June as he left his place of worship in Surrey, B.C.

In an email to CBC on Wednesday, YouTube said it had received an order from India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block access to the video of the story from its website.

YouTube confirmed to CBC News Wednesday after‐ noon that "the content has now been blocked from view" on the India YouTube country site. While the content is re‐ stricted in India, the video is still available everywhere else on YouTube.

Meanwhile, X, formerly known as Twitter, also in‐ formed CBC that it had re‐ ceived a legal removal de‐ mand from the Indian gov‐ ernment relating to the Fifth Estate story.

"Indian law obligates X to withhold access to this con‐ tent in India; however, the content remains available elsewhere," X said in an email to The Fifth Estate.

"We disagree with this ac‐ tion and maintain that free‐ dom of expression should ex‐ tend to these posts. Follow‐ ing the Indian legal process, we are in current communi‐ cation with the Indian au‐ thorities."

In emails from YouTube and X to CBC, the platforms said the Indian government was citing the country's Infor‐ mation Technology Act 2000 in making the orders.

According to one section of that act, the government has the power to "intercept, monitor or decrypt any infor‐ mation generated, transmit‐ ted, received or stored in any computer resource." Such ac‐ tion can be taken, according to the act, in the interest of:

The sovereignty or in‐ tegrity of India, defence of In‐ dia, the security of the state. Friendly relations with for‐ eign states. Public order, or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cog‐ nizable offence relating to these. Investigating any of‐ fence.

Video shows Nijjar leav‐ ing parking lot

The Fifth Estate story that aired last week included video that showed Nijjar, the president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, leaving the parking lot of his place of worship in Surrey on the evening of June 18, 2023, in his grey Dodge Ram pickup truck.

As he approaches the exit, a white sedan pulls in front of him, blocking his truck. Two men then run up and shoot Nijjar before escaping in a silver Toyota Camry.

The co-ordinated attack involved six men and two ve‐ hicles. Almost nine months later, the RCMP has yet to name suspects or make ar‐ rests in relation to Nijjar's death.

The apparent targeted killing of Nijjar ultimately led to accusations from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the government of India or‐ dered the killing - a claim that severely damaged diplomatic ties between Canada and In‐ dia.

India has strongly denied any connection to the killing.

WATCH | The full Fifth Es‐ tate episode:

Chuck Thompson, a spokesman with CBC News, said it stands by its journal‐ ism on the story.

"To ensure fairness and balance, the documentary in‐ cluded a wide range of voices, witnesses and subject matter experts," he said.

"And, as is the case with all stories on The Fifth Estate, "Contract To Kill" was thor‐ oughly researched, vetted by senior editorial leaders and meets our journalistic stan‐ dards."

Corynne McSherry, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based organization focusing on civil liberties on the internet, said these ac‐ tions by the India govern‐ ment are part of a pattern they've seen over the past few years. The government will take advantage of its own laws to pressure social media companies to take down con‐ tent it doesn't like, she said.

"Unfortunately, at this point, it's got pretty broad le‐ gal powers to do that. And as far as we can tell, is not hesi‐ tating at all to use them," she said.

"The companies are in a difficult position because on the one hand, if they want to be able to provide services in a given country, they may need to comply with those country's laws whether or not they want to."