On November 16, YouTube channel Chanakyaa TV run by renowned journalist Rangaraj Pandey was reportedly hacked and later terminated from the video streaming and sharing platform, coming as a shock to many of his viewers.
The incident to light after several netizens pointed out that they could not find the channel on YouTube.
In a vlog, Rangaraj Pandey explained how Chanakyaa TV was hacked with the channel witnessing random activity. The channel’s name got changed to XRP Ripple 2.0 and suddenly started going live playing random videos. His another channel Guru (a sub-channel of Chanakyaa) too got hacked with its name too getting changed as XRP Ripple 2.0. While the Pandey’s team was able to save Guru channel with timely interference, they couldn’t do so for Chanakyaa TV. With YouTube’s algorithm detecting suspicious activity, the channel was terminated.
However, Chanakyaa TV has now been restored after the matter was raised with YouTube.
The hacking episode came after a video of BJP Tamil Nadu head Annamalai taking a jibe at CM MK Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin went viral.
Annamalai while participating in an event hosted by Chanakyaa TV took a dig at Udhayanidhi Stalin that the CM’s son was able to visit Dubai and watch IPL happily due to PM Modi’s diplomatic efforts that allowed Indians to travel freely considering the pandemic.
Many suspected that Chanakyaa TV might have faced the wrath of the ruling DMK regime in the state as Pandey had been critiquing the Stalin government on its actions. It was alleged that the DMK IT Cell might be behind this with their troll army reporting the channel leading it to its termination.
The fact that the incident happened on his birthday further fuelled speculations about Pandey being a victim of a targeted attack by his detractors in an effort to silence him.
It is not yet clear as to who was behind the hacking. Rangaraj Pandey has submitted a formal complaint with the Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal.
The channel was restored on the morning of November 17 coming as a sigh of relief to Pandey as well as his well wishers.
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