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Maa Ka Doodh, 2023’s award-winning documentary on India’s dairy industry, was recently removed by YouTube due to alleged violation of its policies.
The film was written, produced, and directed by Harsha Atmakuri, a doctor-turned-animal rights activist. It examines the various ethical, environmental, religious, economic, social, and political consequences of increased dairy consumption in India. It also explores the link between national dairy consumption and India’s lucrative but controversial beef exports, which come from buffalo.
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According to the filmmakers, animal rights activists in India recently launched a campaign called “milk is not vegetarian,” prompting backlash and a police investigation. Some of their posters featured QR codes that linked to Maa Ka Doodh. Soon after the campaign launched, YouTube deleted the filmmakers’ entire channel, citing the company’s policies on “spam, deceptive practices, and scams.”
Atmakuri contacted YouTube about the decision, but the company initially rejected his appeal. The rejection notice stated that after “carefully reviewing” the channel, YouTube had decided that the film violated the company’s policies. The trailer was also removed. However, by October 24, the film and channel had been unlocked.
‘Censorship is a symptom of a dying democracy’
Plant Based News (PBN) reached out to YouTube’s owner, Google, for comment. A spokesperson said, “Upon review, we can confirm that the channel does not violate our policy on spam, deceptive practices, and scams and has been reinstated.” No explanation was provided, but in a letter sent to the filmmakers, YouTube thanked them for their patience and acknowledged that the company “makes mistakes.”
“Censorship is a symptom of a dying democracy, and today I experienced it first hand,” said Atmakuri in a short video posted to Instagram last week, which has since been removed. “We made a documentary, not a crypto scheme. […] Channels that glorify animal cruelty stay up, but a film that questions it gets erased. When a film is silenced, it proves exactly why it needs to exist.”
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‘One cannot exist without the other’
Maa Ka Doodh, which translates to “mother’s milk,” gained more than 3.7 million views on YouTube before its removal. The filmmakers have said that people wrote to them to say it had changed their lives, and many viewers also reported turning vegan.
In 2023, Maa Ka Doodh won several awards, including Best Documentary Film and Best Eye Opening Film at the Bangkok International Film Festival. Atmakuri previously noted that India’s dairy production and beef exports are “two sides of the same coin.”
He also said that “one cannot exist without the other,” and that more specifically, India’s beef export industry cannot exist without its dairy industry, which is the largest in the world. In 2023, the country produced nearly 2.5 million tonnes.
Following the film’s removal from YouTube, the filmmakers called on people to watch Maa Ka Doodh on other YouTube channels, Vimeo, or by downloading it for free. They also suggested viewers try uploading it to platforms via their own channels. “Let’s make censorship backfire.” The full film is now available on YouTube once more.
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