If you do not know about several different tenets and lines of development in the discourse surrounding the Samay Raina – Ranveer Allahbadia – Apoorva Mukhija fiasco, consider yourself blessed and rare, because what seems to have unravelled the tapestry of the Indian internet’s moral fabric and caused humongous squalor among the conservative right around the denigration of what is considered “decency” has left you untouched, blessedly so. Over the last few days, Indian Twitter, or X – has managed to split a “would you rather” joke open and spill the impact on the constitution of the national culture all over.
Over the last few days, Indian Twitter, or X – has managed to split a “would you rather” joke open and spill the impact on the constitution of the national culture all over.
One sees many questions floating around on the Internet, ones that circle freedom of speech, the rights of comedians, what counts as “too far” on jokes, the bounds of “edginess” – especially with aforementioned display of edge is a generic play on “dankness”, and the gravity of it all, and is forced to contemplate the legal and executive actions associated with the same, enforced in augmentary fashion and critically construct an answer to the question of what got us here, and what it means for us – long term.
The politics of jokes (and who makes them): The Ranveer Allahbadia-Samay Raina controversy
It becomes important to note that Allahbadia (aka BeerBiceps), and Samay Raina (“dark” joke extraordinaire with a bustling show named India’s Got Latent) have huge spectatorships, with the two having 8.2 million and 7.48 million subscribers across their YouTube channels respectively, notwithstanding the enormous chunk of people who choose to skim through the duo’s content, parsing through their videos in the form of cut-up clips on Instagram and Shorts.
After Allahbadia had posed a question for the participant which has now come to be widely regarded as distasteful (‘would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or would you join in once and stop it forever?‘) – the podcaster and Raina found themselves in deeply troubled waters, with FIRs being filed against them in Assam, and later in Mumbai under the IT Act. This report by India Today details the sections under which Allahbadia and the other guests on the episode were booked.
The empowering of a podcast
However – in this violent frenzy that has enveloped the Indian influencer-sphere, one seeks to ponder the intensity of action. India’s Got Latent, and Samay Raina’s personal audience is not estranged from the kind of jokes made on his platforms. The creator has banked on jokes demarcated as inflammatory, communal, misogynistic, and “cancellable” : under the guise of “dankness”. We are not trying to defend the comic’s show or his repertoire of jokes in this article, because that falls under the permissibility of offensive jokes — for one, Raina has taken to X before to humor himself on abortion rights of women, laughed along as anti-rape vigils in Kolkata were mocked by a participant, not said a word as multiple women featured on his show have been victims of character assassination and dirt-flinging.
The crux of the matter is, what Allahbadia said fits right into the template of the show: one that keeps you teetering at the edge of outrage, one that is beyond the reaches of “political correctness”, one that does not really care about the perceived notion of decency, because that is not a considerable factor in the show’s structuring. For one, Raina has had his relationships with multiple female content creators [eg: Kusha Kapila, Uorfi Javed] fraught with discord post making comments that have been largely deemed misogynistic, inconsiderate and degrading.
Allahbadia’s joke does not go out of the common ambit of what is considered “funny” for Raina’s spectatorship, in fact, it fits right in – Raina has spent ages cultivating a band of consumers that allow him to make jokes that would otherwise be considered “off-limits”, brandishing the left for “cancelling” comedians like Dave Chappelle, and engineered a base of followers that would defend him for going the “extra mile”.
There should be a shared ground when it comes to the politics of Raina’s and Allahbadia’s platforms –with their maintenance of their overarching performance of “centrism”.
There should be a shared ground when it comes to the politics of Raina’s and Allahbadia’s platforms –with their maintenance of their overarching performance of “centrism”. However, there is a difference, with the former’s political opinions primarily existing in the form of quips at his Kashmiri Pandit heritage and at times support extended to other comics cancelled/charged by the administration at different points. Allahbadia’s case, however, is different. The content creator/podcaster, in his earlier days, could be classified as someone who made lifestyle-oriented videos – with topics ranging from personal finances, tips to follow at the gym, and occasional interviews about gaming, sports and the like.
The pivot to platforming politicians, political “commentators” and religio-national theorists has been fairly recent, with the venture though aged in its infancy, is largely successful.
Allahbadia’s podcast videos have a specific quality to them which has made him the go-to podcaster, when it comes to the current crop of people he is in the process of interviewing. For the most part, he is unquestioning, and even entranced, in the face of arguments made by his guests. A formidable mention is when J. Sai Deepak was asked, quite astoundingly, by the podcaster the names of three Indians who should leave the country and never come back – to which the former responds with Barkha Dutt, Irfan Habib and Romila Thapar, stating that they have ‘harmed Indian interest in their own way‘.
On another occasion, Abhijit Chavda, who has now almost transformed into a frequent guest of The Ranveer Show, alleges that Indian Hindus have become second grade citizens in the country – again, with little counter-questioning. Allahbadia, famously, has also gone on to interview S Jaishankar, Smriti Irani, and win the Disruptor of the Year Award at the National Creators Award, handed to him by the Prime Minister himself.
Here is the problem, now, with Allahbadia’s sudden “edginess” on Latent: and it has to do with his associations with the current governance. Allahbadia, unquestioning, casual, and positioned as “apolitical” seemed to be the right bridge between the state machinery and its audience. While occasionally speaking to leaders from the Opposition, left-wing thinkers, etc. – he maintained his classic approach, unquestioning – almost a clinically depersonalised mouthpiece of whoever he is interviewing, an odd synthesis of a prototype developed by intertwining Karan Johar and Nikhil Kamath.
The government gained a platform enmeshing it in a network of humanisation and relatability, while the podcaster found itself “legitimised” in the so-called big-league.
The consequent audience cultivation is therefore one that sees him as so, sometimes “freaky”, mostly pander-y, respectful of traditions and belief systems (Allahbadia no longer speaks of eating beef on Ganesh Visarjan, of course)– and a wonderful two-way communication street emerged. The government gained a platform enmeshing it in a network of humanisation and relatability, while the podcaster found itself “legitimised” in the so-called big-league. According to Financial Express, ‘Monk Entertainment (Monk-E), co-founded by YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia (BeerBiceps) and Viraj Sheth, reported Rs 97.8 crore in revenue for FY24, reflecting a 2.2% growth from the previous year.‘
Allahbadia’s model has been successful and tactical because it has maintained the microphone-esque model for outreach, it is in his identification with the “dank” other that has resulted in the backlash. Allahbadia gaining personhood beyond the amiable host who sometimes says extraordinarily strange things gets disparaged when he associates with the ideals that Raina produces, which no matter how centrist in presentation, is far from the sanitised model that the right wants for itself.
Things to think about (and your fundamental rights)
You might ask us, why should we concern ourselves with this at all – after all, comedians and creators running into administrative brick-walls is only natural and age old. None of this is new, in fact, it is right out of the Congress-playbook. However, the freedom of speech debate, paired with ones regarding moral integrity are limited within the boundaries of an online discourse.
Take in your purview, the 18th February hearing by the Supreme Court of the plea by Allahbadia challenging the FIRs filed against him. There is one commonality that the defence and Justice Surya Kant shared on the verdict : their collective reproach of Allahbadia’s “depravity”. Bar and Bench reported this exchange :
‘Are you defending the language used: Justice Surya Kant
Dr Chandrachud: As an officer of the court I am disgusted at the language used.
SC: so what are the parameters of obscenity and vulgarity. In the society which has some self evolved values and when we behave within those parameters we want to know what are the parameters of Indian society according to the petitioner.‘
There is a firm crackdown on “vulgarity”. This also sets a precedent, Allahbadia has been asked to not host/attend any shows till the next hearing – which is a virtual gag order.
There is a firm crackdown on “vulgarity”. This also sets a precedent, Allahbadia has been asked to not host/attend any shows till the next hearing – which is a virtual gag order. What one finds here, is that the average citizen’s joke – vulgar or not, stands under the reproach of the judiciary, stands to create a situation where one is legally forbidden from speaking in “shows”. One can only begin to imagine the implications of this in cases where the appellant is not a celebrity podcaster with the means to employ Abhinav Chandrachud as legal counsel.
Here is an excerpt from an NDTV report:
‘In a sign that the row over YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia’s remarks could have consequences for the regulation of content in India, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology is considering writing to the Centre to strengthen laws so that such controversies do not occur in the future, sources have said.
The parliamentary panel is understood to be considering recommending that the laws around digital content be made stricter, the sources said on Thursday … Indicating that the issue had wider support, Naresh Mhaske, an MP from the opposing Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, had also said content creators are taking advantage of online platforms not being censored.‘
One needs to remember, in particular, the second draft of the Broadcasting Bill withdrawn by the government in 2024, which imposed these “strict digital laws” in particular.
One needs to remember, in particular, the second draft of the Broadcasting Bill withdrawn by the government in 2024, which imposed these “strict digital laws” in particular. According to the Internet Freedom Foundation, ‘As per the revisions made in the Broadcasting Bill, individuals posting ‘news and current affairs’ may now be considered as ‘Digital News Broadcasters’ and may become subject to a ‘Code of Conduct’ similar to the one applicable to cable TV broadcasters.’
The 2024 Bill defined a ‘Digital News Broadcaster’ or a ‘publisher of news and current affairs content’ as any person who broadcasts news and current affairs programs through a digital medium as part of a ‘systematic business, professional or commercial activity but excluding replica e-papers’. The 2024 Bill also defined previously undefined phrases “professional” and “systematic activity” as ‘a person engaged in an occupation or vocation’ and ‘any structured or organized activity that involves an element of planning, method, continuity or persistence’ respectively, as per reports.
Thus, if it can be proved that a digital creator engages in even one of the four listed elements for qualifying as a ‘systematic activity’, i.e. planning, method, continuity or persistence, they would be covered under its meaning.’
The new Bill also widened several definitions, especially spreading the boundaries of what can be called an “OTT Broadcasting Service” – with creators uploading content on various social media applications coming under the purview of this act, with them being identified as OTT Broadcasting Services. What this does, is simple and effective. When an intermediary or a social media platform fails to comply with the enforced protocol / demand, the legalities imposed on the individual deprives them of the safe harbour : that is, the exemption from liability of third party content is no longer existent, thus putting them under the direct purview from action under the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita.
A report from Hindustan India further states, ‘The bill clarifies that if an OTT broadcasting service or a digital news broadcaster is a user on a social media platform, the two broadcasters will be responsible for complying with the act, not the social media company.‘
While this bill has been shelved for the time being, it has not been thrown away into oblivion. Instead, it looms over all our shoulders – especially those that risk dissent in any of its forms. The outrage regarding Allahbadia’s singular regurgitated joke, on a platform like Raina’s seems almost unfounded till it does not. The moral degeneration and the sections that the showrunners have been booked under could have been implicated months before — in fact, in more visceral forms.
What stands around the corner, ominously, is something more insidious. It only seems like a matter of time.
Sources :
- Broadcasting Bill : https://internetfreedom.in/a-broadcasting-summary/
- Revenue of Monk Entertainment : https://internetfreedom.in/a-broadcasting-summary/
- J Sai Deepak on Beer Biceps : https://youtu.be/RNXqM8vdw4M
- India Today on Beer Biceps and his FIRs : https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/fir-against-ranveer-allahbadia-samay-raina-28-others-what-are-the-charges-2678757-2025-02-12
- Abhijit Chavda on Beer Biceps : https://www.reddit.com/r/librandu/comments/104rf8r/fake_historian_abhijit_chavda_in_india/?rdt=64658
- Isolation, conservatism and buzzwords: What drives the lucrative market for right-wing influencers: https://www.newslaundry.com/2023/07/24/isolation-conservatism-and-buzzwords-what-drives-the-lucrative-market-for-right-wing-influencers
- House Panel To Push For Stricter Content Laws Amid YouTuber Row: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/ranveer-allahbadia-standing-committee-on-it-indias-got-latent-samay-raina-house-panel-to-push-for-stricter-content-laws-amid-youtuber-row-sources-7701534
