Union ministers S. Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, among others have appeared on these YouTube channels for interviews, which are 'in collaboration with MyGov'. However, there is opaqueness with regard to terms of 'collaboration' between these social media influencers and the citizen engagement platform.
A series of interviews with Union ministers conducted by social media influencers in collaboration with MyGov have raised questions about the Modi government’s use of public funds to finance interactions between influencers and senior government functionaries as well as the terms of these interactions.
Intriguingly, the Government of India also published front-page advertisements in prominent newspapers endorsing some select social media influencers, with their images and the mention of their YouTube channels. The captions read as follows: “To stay safe online, hit pause” and “Trust only the real experts”
26/06/2023