It’s no secret that social media algorithms have a leftist bias. Renowned author, scholar, and a pioneer in the research on civilizations Rajiv Malhotra has discussed this in detail in his book “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power: 5 Battlegrounds”.
He explains in detail how biases can creep into AI algorithms through various routes – the biases of the algorithm developer, the ideological bias of the data sets based on which the algorithm is trained, etc. Simply put, if the AI algorithm of YouTube classifies a certain video as “hate speech” while doesn’t see anything problematic with another video that should be technically classified as “hate speech”, it’s a clear example of algorithmic bias.
Social media is no longer a disinterested space. It’s become a powerful business that is fast on the path to displacing traditional media in terms of revenue and viewership. Therefore, who sponsors which platform with what intent determines the ideological bias of that platform. In its early days, YouTube was a breath of fresh air for Raashtravadi (nationalist) or non-leftist youtubers who could put forth their point of view without fear of censorship. Although censorship did exist, one at least had the freedom to put forth alternative viewpoints through YouTube.
But that seems to be fast changing with the likes of YouTube cracking down on nationalist YouTubers. The YouTube channel of Sanatani Youtuber Vinodh Kumar was removed from the platform in September 2023 citing “repeated violation of community guidelines. After YouTube removed Vinodh Kumar’s channel without any prior notice or strike, “Shame on YouTube” started trending on X with netizens asking the social media platform to restore his account.
Vinodh Kumar’s channel “Strings” was full of videos exposing the global leftist and Islamist ecosystem. Based on in-depth research and facts that the host culled from a variety of sources and cited those sources in the video itself, Strings wasn’t a propaganda channel by any stretch of the imagination. If YouTube considers exposing leftists and speaking for the rights of the Hindus a violation of community guidelines, well then, there is nothing more to be said.
YouTuber Praveen Mohan has also been on the hitlist of YouTube for quite some time now. Praveen Mohan is a famous youtuber who travels the world to explore ancient Hindu temples. Praveen’s videos give fresh and unique insights into the archaeology of these temples. He often makes scientific observations regarding the imagery of these temples, the positioning of the idols, the archaeological elements of the temples, etc. Praveen’s videos are extremely engaging and none of his videos are political. Yet, YouTube finds his videos offensive. Many of his videos have been deleted by the social media platform. The only reason that comes to one’s mind is that YouTube doesn’t want to encourage scientific exploration of ancient Hindu sites. Is it because such videos debunk the western conspiracy theory of the primitivism of the so-called heathens and reaffirm the scientific basis of Sanatan Dharma?
In his X account, Praveen says in the intro itself that this is his second Twitter account after the “first one was deleted without any reason”.
Yet, another Sanatani YouTuber, Rachit Kaushik or, Sabloktantra Baba has been on the hitlist of social media platforms for quite a while. Rachit has been recently arrested, or rather kidnapped by the Punjab Police reportedly from Muzaffarnagar where he had gone to attend a cousin’s wedding. According to various media reports, Rachit was literally picked up by the Punjab police in the middle of the road from his car in front of his wife and mother.
OpIndia has done a detailed investigation of the incident. According to OpIndia’s news coverage, they spoke to Rachit’s mother who narrated the whole incident. She said that Rachit was coming back to the location of the wedding after picking up his niece. All of a sudden, a Scorpio came in front of their vehicle and a Sikh man emerged in civilian uniform. Rachit then thought that his car might have accidentally touched the Scorpio so he pulled down the window glass to speak to the man in turban. Without any warning, the turbaned man pulled Rachit out of the car towards the police vehicle.
As per OpIndia investigation, within minutes, Rachit Kaushik’s relatives and eyewitnesses of the incident gathered on the spot. It took a while for Rachit’s family to figure out that one of the local police stations in the area had been informed and the FIR based on which Rachit Kaushik was reportedly arrested was forward. But Rachit Kaushik’s family, did not receive any warrant as per OpIndia.
The ostensible reason behind Rachit Kaushik’s arrest is an FIR lodged against him based on a complaint made against him by Alisha Sultan, a Pastor at the Church of God near Jalandhar Bypass on 17th January 2024. According to the Punjab Police. Rachit Kaushik had been arrested for “hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity between different groups in the name of religion”. As per various media reports, the complainant had alleged that Rachit had made derogatory remarks against the Christian community.
Interestingly enough, the FIR doesn’t mention the name of either Rachit Kaushik or Sab Loktantra channel, as per OpIndia reportage. “OpIndia accessed a copy of the FIR based on which Punjab Police arrested Kaushik. Interestingly, nowhere in the FIR was Kaushik of Sab Loktantra’s name mentioned. The FIR was registered based on a complaint of one Alisha Sultan from the Salem Tabri Police Station area in Ludhiana. The complainant said that she is a pastor, and on 17th January, she noticed posts by a Twitter (now X) account called ‘noconversion’ against the Christian religion. The complainant accused the account owner of insulting Christian women and nuns and asserted such posts could incite communal tensions, which might disturb peace in the country”, says the OpIndia article.
OpIndia coverage further says that the only video of Rachit Kaushik that was probably shared through the “Noconversion” X account was related to an expose on the corruption of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s family members including his son. Apart from that, no other video of Rachit Kaushik could be found on this X handle, says OpIndia.
If what OpIndia says is indeed true, Rachit Kaushik has been witch-hunted by the Punjab government because of his expose video related to Arvind Kejriwal. The complaint against him by the pastor then seems a mere coverup. That’s why social media platform X is flooded with hashtags “Justice for Baba” and “Rachit Kaushik Kidnapped”. Delhi-based BJP leader Tajinder Bagga also posted on X regarding this and drew a connection between Rachit’s arrest and his video on the alleged expose of Arvind Kejriwal’s son.
Even if one is not a legal expert, it’s easy to figure out Rachit Kaushik has become a victim of a political and ideological witch-hunt. The manner in which Rachit was roughed up and picked up by the Punjab police from another state without any prior warning, is the kind of manner reserved for the most hardcore of criminals. A YouTuber randomly accused of inciting hate speech through his videos isn’t exactly a hardened criminal. That is when millions of hate speech videos against Hindus are routinely posted on social media platforms and they undergo no scrutiny. In the case of Rachit Kaushik, as the OpIndia investigation reveals, he had in all probability hadn’t posted any video against the “Noconversion” X handle. Prime facie, it seems like it is a third-party handle that is not directly run by Rachit Kaushik. Furthermore, the FIR reportedly doesn’t even mention Rachit’s name. Then, why on earth was he roughed up and picked up by the Punjab police in the middle of nowhere?
Rachit Kaushik or Sabloktantra Baba has also been on the hitlist of social media many times. His YouTube channel has been deleted by YouTube many times and he has started afresh every time. Sabloktantra Baba’s content is factual and his style of presentation highly satirical. He uses super-refined language in his YouTube videos, and all his videos can be regarded as masterpieces in modern political satire. It’s rather strange that of all nationalist Youtubers, the ecosystem would have issues with someone like Rachit Kaushik who has a very balanced presentation style and never uses any direct language, let aside foul or hate-inciting vocabulary. Or is it that he speaks too much truth through his satire? His satires exposing the Bharatiya and global leftist-Islamist ecosystem have become an eyesore for the left-liberal cabal.
Rachit Kaushik gave a detailed interview to The Jaipur Dialogues about 2 years back. This video interview gives ample background on his work and life. He speaks about the first time his channel was banned by YouTube. It was because he had posted a satirical video exposing the Islamist nexus of Bollywood. During the course of his interview, he speaks of his ordeal as he is repeatedly targeted by the social media ecosystem. Rachit also raises a very pertinent point – he talks about the urgent need for nationalist or non-leftist journalists and content creators to have their own OTT platform. This was 2 years back and we still haven’t gotten anywhere in this regard. Mainstream social media with its leftist bias and blatant censorship of content exposing the leftist ecosystem has become the mirror image of mainstream media. It’s high time we get a neutral media platform on which nationalist content creators can share their perspectives and truth without the fear of censorship or harassment. For this purpose, the government needs to take the initiative and Bharatiya businesses need to come forward to invest. It’s also an exciting opportunity for the IT professionals of Bharat to go beyond servicing the western ecosystem and undertake innovations in the Bharatiya context.
Also, the government needs to look into the safety and security of nationalist YouTubers. Mainstream media journalists have multiple unions and interest groups, thus their rights are better protected. But what about the rights of digital media journalists and content creators? Social media journalism is now thriving to a point where it will soon displace mainstream media. Many of the nationalist YouTubers have more viewership than the mainstream news channels. But they are common citizens of Bharat who lead a vulnerable existence. In the absence of any union or collective, they have no means to fight for their rights in the face of unjust censorship, threats, and intimidation.
When so many nationalist content creators are working hard to expose the leftist ecosystem and taking multiple risks in the process, the least the government can do is ensure them adequate safety and security and put in place stringent mechanisms for social media companies to prevent unwanted harassment of non-leftist content creators just because they are presenting content that doesn’t echo the left-liberal cabal’s viewpoint.
