Sansad TV's YouTube Account 'Terminated', Channel Says 'Compromised by Scamsters'
New Delhi: The YouTube account of Sansad TV, which broadcasts live proceedings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, was terminated for violating YouTube's community guidelines. The channel has claimed that YouTube is addressing the "security threat".
On the website, the official channel's videos are unavailable and a message, instead, reads, "This account has been terminated for violating YouTube's community guidelines".
This development followed reports on social media that the account was hacked and renamed "Etherium," which is also the name of a crypto currency.
Earlier in the day, reported Indian Express, the Sansad TV YouTube account showed a 404 error, with a message which said that “This page isn’t available. Sorry about that. Try searching for something else”.
The television channel released a statement noting that the channel was "compromised" by scamsters at 1 am on February 15. The channel's social media team, the statement by joint secretary Puneet Kumar notes, got it restored by 3.45 am.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) also reported the compromise, it said.
The statement adds that YouTube "has started fixing the security threats permanently" and that the channel will be restored as soon as possible.
The YouTube channel of Sansad TV was compromised by some scamsters on Feb 15, 2022. Youtube is addressing the security threat and the issue will be resolved asap. pic.twitter.com/k1DI7HmZTh
— SansadTV (@sansad_tv) February 15, 2022
It is not clear which community guidelines of YouTube were violated – either through the compromise or otherwise.
YouTube's community guidelines outline what type of content is not allowed on YouTube and the website claims to "apply them to everyone equally – regardless of the subject or the creator's background, political viewpoint, position or affiliation."
They cover spam and deceptive practices, sensitive content, harassment and cyberbullying, harmful or dangerous content, hate speech, regulated goods and misinformation.
Google, which owns YouTube, has not responded to communication by news outlets.
This is not the first time online accounts linked with the Indian government have been associated with alleged crypto hacking efforts.
On December 12, the Prime Minister’s Office said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal Twitter handle was “very briefly compromised." The account is understood to have tweeted the link to a cryptocurrency site.
In September 2020, Twitter said that an account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal website was hacked with a series of tweets asking its followers to donate to a relief fund through cryptocurrency.
This article went live on February fifteenth, two thousand twenty two, at fifty-one minutes past two in the afternoon.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
