The Movie Artists Association (MAA), led by Vishnu Manchu as its president, has cracked down on numerous YouTube channels for posting derogatory content. Recently, YouTuber Praneeth Hanumanthu was arrested for cracking ‘jokes’ about child abuse during a live session, garnering attention from numerous Tollywood celebs. 

‘We have blocked 23 channels’

The MAA association has blocked 23 YouTube channels till date for posting regressive content. Earlier this month they wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “The crackdown has begun. Five YouTube channels have been terminated for posting derogatory comments about actors, their families, and personal attacks. This is just the start. We will continue to update the list as we take further action…”

On Wednesday afternoon, they tweeted that they had blocked 18 more such YouTube channels and released a list. They wrote, “As part of our ongoing efforts on terminating the YouTube channels for posting derogatory content on our artists. We have blocked an additional 18 channels that spread harmful content. Stay tuned for further updates.”

This comes days after Praneeth’s arrest and Vishnu’s ‘appeal’ to YouTubers to take down abusive content.

What Vishnu Manchu said

On July 10, Vishnu released a video on his Instagram, lauding Sai Dharam Tej for bringing the issue to the fore. He said, “Some Telugu people are behaving horrendously online, bringing us a bad name. A few days ago, Sai Dharam Tej questioned Hanumantu. The video was so horrible that even the CM and authorities responded. Why would anyone behave like that?”

After calling out those who made the video, Vishnu also revealed that MAA received ‘numerous complaints’ about similar channels. He ended the video with. “People talk horribly about heroines, actors’ wives also under the guise of dark humour. I appeal to everyone who makes such videos to take them down within 48 hours. If they don’t, we will take action, flag it to YouTube, complain to Cybersecurity and take legal action to ban your channel. I appeal to Telangana and AP authorities to support us in this.”

What started it all

Praneeth and a bunch of other YouTubers hosted a live session where they reacted to an Instagram reel by making inappropriate ‘jokes’ about the relationship between a father and a young daughter. Actor Sai was the first one from Tollywood to take notice and call out Praneeth for the video. Numerous actors like Nara Rohith, Sudheer Babu, Karthikeya and Manchu Manoj also reacted and flagged the video to authorities, resulting in Praneeth’s arrest.