At a time when millions of Indians at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj are presenting wonderful images about India’s cultural ethos before an unbelieving world, a handful of YouTubers, in order to make quick money, have brought shame to our country by crossing the limits of decency. They made vulgar remarks about family values and uttered nonsense about the private parts of females in the guise of ‘dark humour’. Some of their remarks were so cheap and grossly vulgar that I cannot repeat here. In TV shows, comedians in the past used to make bawdy remarks, but they never crossed the limits of decency.
The YouTubers in question, claim to be social media influencers. They were taking part in the show ‘India’s Got Latent’, but after a nationwide outrage over these vulgar and cheap remarks, YouTube had to block the videos of the show on its platform. YouTubers Ranveer Allahbadia as the judge in the show, and content creator Apoorva Makhija, standup comedians Ashish Chanchlani and Jaspreet Singh on the panel. Samay Raina was also present as the host in the show that was shot at The Habitat Club in Mumbai.
On social media, negative things become ‘viral’ immediately. There was a barrage of objections from viewers, and two lawyers of the Bombay High Court wrote a letter to the Police Commissioner and the Women’s Commission to take action. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis promised stern action against those who crossed the limits of decency.
The matter is serious because Ranveer Allahbadia has a huge following on social media and his podcast channel on YouTube has 10.5 million subscribers. His other channel BeerBiceps has more than 8 million subscribers. Allahabadia has more than 6 lakh followers on X and 4.5 million followers on Instagram. Mumbai Police has already begun investigation and police reached Allahabadia’s residence on Tuesday. The YouTubers who have made sleazy and obscene comments about parents do not deserve pardon. One must remember they did not commit the mistake unknowingly but were following a pre-planned, pre-written script. This was not a slip of tongue. It was a copy of a prepared skit from an English show.
This incident has exposed YouTubers who have no morals and no values. Their only aim is to earn more by raising the number of their followers. None of them bother about the effect that they leave on society. I am astonished that some political parties and marketing experts have started considering such people as influencers, by watching the number of their followers and subscribers. They believe that in order to connect with the new generation, such ‘influencers’ must be used.
Many of the YouTubers doing good work have less number of subscribers and followers. Nobody thinks about them. The YouTubers who have peddled obscenity have done an irresponsible act and they have harmed the good work done by other YouTubers. They have brought the credibility of all YouTubers to question.
This has not happened for the first time. A few days ago, one YouTuber was caught selling snake venom. Those who call such people as influencers must realize that the ‘influence’ of such people is always temporary. In order to gain credibility and make a lasting place in the hearts of people, one needs moral strength and a feeling of responsibility towards society. Credibility is the key to a permanent place in media. And this is missing in the case of several of the YouTubers.
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