NCST’s position is that YouTube videos on the tribal group “outrage the modesty of Jarawas without their knowledge”. The commission also wants that no content on the tribal group is posted in the future in anyplatform. NCST has written to the ministries of information & broadcasting and home affairs, asking them to ensure the order is complied with.
YouTube told ET it will not comment as it had not received any details of the order. It also said: “YouTube’s Community Guidelines prohibit things like hate speech, shocking or disturbing content, illegal acts, and graphic violence, and we give our users tools to flag content so that we can review and remove anything that violates our policies. We also comply with valid legal requests from authorities wherever possible, consistent with our longstanding policy.”
NCST secretary Raghav Chandra told ET, “These videos are posted under tags like ‘Jarawa Development’ but show them naked or awkward and clumsy. They do not show them in good light. Posting these videos is akin to outraging their modesty without their knowledge. The commission has decided in its meeting on Wednesday to ask YouTube to remove all videos posted online.” The commission, ET has learnt, came to the conclusion that certain videos appeared to make fun of the tribal group. Chandra, however, said the commission was not against anthropological studies on Jarawas. “This should not be taken as opposition to scientific studies. But we do not want them to be objects of ridicule,” he said.