Pakistan, April 30 -- India's latest decision to block 16 Pakistani YouTube channels, including those of independent journalists and media organizations, marks yet another alarming step in a string of provocative actions designed to control the narrative. Carefully tucked underneath the rhetoric of "national security" lies a disturbing pattern: the systematic erosion of free speech in the world's largest democracy in a bid to make it all the more convenient for New Delhi to run wild with its hypocrisy.

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting accused the blocked channels of "threatening national security." Yet a closer examination reveals a different story. Most of them drew the ire because of their focus on offering ordinary Indians alt...