Viewers of his videos had long since been requesting one on India, says Giordanno Nanni. Nanni’s Australia-based YouTube channel Juice Media runs a series called ‘Honest Government Ads’, comprising deadpan and detailed satirical ads on government policy and behaviour. The ads are narrated in a sterile public-service-announcement tone, mock taxpayer-funded ads and are unsparing in criticism.
On June 1, Nanni and his small team made good on their Indian viewers’ request and published an ‘honest government ad’ on the ‘state of democracy™’. A chunk of it was dedicated to India – complete with a wordplay on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that the nation is the ‘mother of democracies’. The clip struck at Modi’s claim that he was chosen by god, highlighted unemployment and ‘more inequality than what was there under British rule’. It said India was moving towards becoming a ‘fascist ethnostate’ and highlighted censorship in the country.
Juice Media uploaded the part relevant just to India as a Short — literally, a short video on YouTube, similar to Reels on Instagram.
Ten days later, on June 11, Nanni got a notice from YouTube saying that the Union home ministry had requested that the Short be blocked in India. Nanni did not seek more clarification from YouTube other than whether they would comply with the request. YouTube said yes. The video is no longer available in India. Nanni was not surprised, he says.
‘Not a fascist autocracy’
“Many Indian viewers predicted this would probably happen when we published the full version on June 1. However, I was surprised at the severity of the charges cited as justification for the block, including “inciting a riot” and “insulting the national honour,” Nanni says, these allegations carry years of jail time in India. “So I also thought that’s a bit of an overreaction to a satirical YouTube video, coming from a country that claims to be, you know, not a fascist autocracy.”
YouTube’s email notes that the MHA feels this video invokes sections 153 (provocation to cause riots), 504 (provocation to break public peace) and 505 (statement conducive to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act, which deals with “insults to [the] Indian National Flag and Constitution of India.”
Screengrabs of YouTube’s communication to Juice Media, uploaded by the latter on their YouTube channel.
An analysis on MediaNama has noted the surreptitious absence of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 – the Union government’s go-to in taking down YouTube content unfavourable to it. In April, blocking orders given for two independent YouTube news channels, Bolta Hindustan and National Dastak, had invoked this rule. This section along with various rules under the 2021 IT Rules are often invoked to also block posts on X and whole websites. MediaNama quotes an expert to highlight how the government could not invoke the IT Rules to block Juice Media’s content because it neither operates in India, nor conducts “systematic business activity of making its content available in India.” There was no issue of notice, no information on a review, or examination of the video by the government either, that report says.
This takedown order comes amidst reports of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting proposing to regulate user-generated content on social media directly under the new Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill which is in its drafting stage. It is noteworthy that the recently-concluded general election is often referred to as the “YouTube elections” – a testament to the popularity enjoyed by independent content creators on social media platforms who have generated awareness multiple times.
‘Appropriately seditious and comical’
In what possibly reflects the government’s knee-jerk reaction to content without attention to detail, the blocking order is for the Short and not the whole video – which is still up and where you can see the parts which run against all the above-invoked laws. Nanni feels that this could possibly be because the “Short was more likely to go viral” but adds that it is “the full version that got over half a million views.”
Juice Media has a million subscribers on YouTube. Nanni says the idea of making satirical ads grew from “deep anger and frustration” at the Australian government’s actions, “especially on climate, accountability and its callous treatment of youth and workers.”
“I thought that we need to do something; and the idea of impersonating the government to provide an honest account of what they are actually doing felt appropriately seditious and comical to cut through. And it did,” he says.
Nanni’s team is only seven people – including his two very young children. “I write, direct and edit the videos: my partner Lucy does the voiceovers; our actors Ellen and Zoë front the camera; Brent helps me out with visual effects; and our kids Luca and Juno (aged 6 and 4) remind us why we’re doing all this,” he adds.
Nanni and his ‘Honest Government Ads’ team in an image uploaded on Juice Media’s Instagram page. The minors’ faces have been blurred in accordance with the law.
Although it is the Australian government that they target the most, they have also covered the US, the UK, Canada, Brazil, Indonesia and others.
In most cases, he says, it is the viewers of these countries who ask them to make videos on what their respective governments are up to. “I love the fact that it was Indian people who guided me in choosing which issues to focus on in the video. I love collaborating with people in the countries we make videos about,” Nanni says.
‘Genuine satire’
In the last few days, Nanni has also had a chance to meet what he calls “loyal and dedicated followers of the Chosen One™” – the rightwing troll army. But he and his team are no strangers to government ire.
“Indonesia’s government blocked our video about West Papua across all of Indonesia. Tasmania’s government ordered us to take down a video about their election back in March… Our federal government complained about the use of their logo and introduced legislation that criminalises the impersonation of a government. I guess some governments fear honesty so much that they don’t want anyone else to be “harmed” by it,” he says.
In reality that trumps the world of Juice Media’s videos, because the Australian government introduced legislation that criminalises the impersonation of a government with an exemption for “genuine satire”, the channel has been ironically using the “Genuine Satire” label to protect themselves.
But for Nanni and Co., there is work to be done – more government action to take apart with satire for a widening fan base. But what of the censorship? “It’s given me a great source of encouragement and motivation to keep going. I should really send some governments a fruit basket to thank them,” Nanni says.
