It is known how big the Praneeth Hanumanthu issue has become. The YouTuber and two others have been arrested for promoting pedophilic content recently. It was Sai Dharam Tej who had brought the issue into the limelight. After him, a handful of other actors also came out criticizing the YouTubers.
So far, so good. But the Telugu film industry may be sensing an opportunity here to silence critics. The other day, MAA President and actor Manchu Vishnu released a video statement saying that "offensive" memes and YouTube videos will be removed with the help of the cybercrime department. He gave the memers 48 hours to withdraw their content.
Now, how is 'offensive' even defined? The memes and troll material on 'Son Of India' and 'Kannappa' might offend the Manchu family but not others. Such memes come under Freedom of Expression. They don't violate any law.
If there is a case of defamation or punishment, the law must take its own course. But threatening meme pages with legal action for offending a few actors is uncalled for. Vishnu said that Brahmanandam has been upset with some "distasteful" memes. But distasteful is not necessarily crass, and crass is not necessarily illegal.
There is a view that the Praneeth Hanumanth issue may be misused by the Telugu film industry to intimidate innocent memers and YouTubers in the coming months.
