The Indian Internet is a noisy place, not always for the low hearts. But sometimes India itself becomes shy in front of the Internet. Or livid, when family values are at stake.
Until a few weeks ago, Ranveer Allahbadia, 31, rose high like a podcaster, an influencer and a successful success – a Joe Rogan for online Indians, especially young men. His handle, Beerbiceps, presented her to his eight million followers as a light boy and invaded by vegetation.
He interviewed celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Priyanka Chopra, as well as ministers of government who build highways and plot foreign relations. He signed agreements with brands like Sony, Skechers and Spotify. Last April, he shared a scene with Prime Minister Narendra Modi while being named “disrupting of the year” during the first national prizes of the creators of India.
Everything came to collapse for Beerbiceps on February 8, when “India’s Got Laltent”, a talent program based on YouTube with an intelligent title and almost half a million subscribers, broadcast with him as a judge.
Mr. Allahbadia told a joke that looked like a disposable line, racy, if not original. But he landed.
“Do you prefer,” he said, “look at your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life, or would you join and stop it forever?” The studio public Oohed, whooped and RI, and the show continued.
The Indians know this form of obscenity extremely – the two most common terms in Hindi refer to illicit sexual acts in a family. But Beerbiceps’ joke seemed somehow a step too far. India has become strongly intolerant of entertainment which offsets certain sensitivities, often religious. The comedy, its litter elongated by the omnipresence of YouTube and WhatsApp, has become more risky.
The indignation which has descended on Mr. Allahbadia can hardly be exaggerated. It started with people on social networks howling with an offense to a clip published online. Soon, minor celebrities have sounded, some with death threats: Saurav Gurjar, a former professional wrestler and television actor, wrote on Instagram that Beerbiceps had “crossed all limits”.
“If I see it during a party, a show or anywhere”, Mr. Gurjar said“Neither his security nor any strength in the world can save him from me.”
He was joined by political leaders. Devendra Fadnavis, an ally of Mr. Modi and the head of state of the Maharashtra, who houses Mumbai and the Hindi film industry, said that such “vulgar and blasphemous content, have passed like comedy”, must be prevented from influencing young minds. Supriya Shriate, from the opposition congress party, wrote online that “we cannot normalize perverted behavior as cool”.
Next come criminal charges. A Cyberpolice Unit of the State of Assam filed a case on the basis of the fact that Beerbiceps had used public obscenity. The Maharashtra has deposited accusations against Mr. Allahbadia and 30 other people involved in “India’s Latent” and other states have prepared to follow suit.
Worried to have to defend himself in the courts of the country and threats to himself and his family, Allahbadia asked the Supreme Court to consolidate business and protect his personal security.
He therefore forced, saying that the government should censor such raw content in the future – or that the court would do it itself.
Judge Surya Kant threw his own opinion on the bizarre. “There is something dirty in his mind that has been vomited,” wrote Mr. Kant, and as a result, “parents will be ashamed, mothers and sisters will be ashamed.”
The court asked Mr. Allahbadia to renounce his passport and ordered that “he does not broadcast any program on YouTube” or other platforms until further notice.
Mr. Allahbadia offered abundant apology, conceding that “humor is not my strong” and for the moment, he remains a free man.
But what about freedom of expression?
A well -known actor, who was afraid of talking about the file, told a scary effect when the public becomes more likely to take offense. The circle of what is acceptable to joke is the narrowing, said the actor, because the first religion, then the policy was marked out of the limits.
The fear is that politicians will see beer beer as an opening to regulate online content. Mr. Modi’s government has already blocked dozens of news channels on YouTube and has its goal on other parts of the web.
Apar Gupta, lawyer and founder of the Freedom Internet Foundation, argued in The Hindu, an Indian newspaperThat Mr. Allahbadia and his friends were “only pawns in the big game for the control of our digital media”.
Whatever happens next, the indignation has already had a hard and immediate effect on the careers of the team behind “India’s Got Latet”, where emerging artists were judged on their “latent” talents.
Arti Raghavan, a lawyer defending a famous actor who was accused of criminal contempt in 2020, said that in the legal system of India, once the accusations have been worn: “You speak of at least a decade of difficulties for the ‘accused.”
“The laws of speech are wide and vague, which makes them ripe for abuse,” she said. This affects everyone.
