According to media circles, this blackout reportedly began soon after the channel aired visuals of the recent stampede in Karur during actor-politician Vijay's political rally.
Published Oct 08, 2025 | 10:21 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 08, 2025 | 10:21 AM
Puthiya Thalaimurai.
Synopsis: Viewers from various districts in Tamil Nadu reported that the Puthiya Thalaimurai news channel is no longer visible on their Government Cable connections and alleged that it has been blocked.
Complaints have emerged across Tamil Nadu alleging that the Puthiya Thalaimurai news channel has been blocked on the Tamil Nadu Government Cable TV network.
According to media circles, this blackout reportedly began soon after the channel aired visuals of the recent stampede in Karur during actor-politician Vijay’s political rally.
Sources say that despite the channel having formally lodged a complaint with the government, it has not received any response for the past four days.
Puthiya Thalaimurai is a widely viewed Tamil-language news channel operated under the SRM Group, broadcasting across Tamil Nadu.
Since Friday, 3 October, viewers from various districts have reported that the channel is no longer visible on their government cable TV connections.
The channel has reportedly lodged complaints with Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV) MD Dr R Vaithinathan and other officials concerned.
However, despite repeated follow-ups, no action has been taken so far — with officials allegedly telling them, “We’ll look into it today or tomorrow.”
Media sources also claimed that the blackout appears to have been carried out in a calculated, selective manner. “Completely blocking the channel would cause a stir, so in each district, the channel has been made unavailable in multiple locations but left visible in one or two places, done in a technically controlled way,” said a source.
A journalist from the channel told South First that a similar disruption had happened with channels like Polimer TV, but those issues were resolved, whereas Puthiya Thalaimurai remains affected.
When South First contacted the channel’s News Editor, Samas, he confirmed, “Yes, the blackout is true. We came to know that nearly 80 percent of Tamil Nadu’s Arasu Cable connections have blocked Puthiya Thalaimurai.”
He added that the channel has filed formal complaints and that officials are “taking steps to resolve the issue.”
The alleged blackout of Puthiya Thalaimurai has drawn sharp criticism from several political leaders, who called it a blow to democracy.
In a statement, Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly and AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said, “In order to suppress news critical of them, the Stalin government is vengefully attempting to blackout and silence dissenting media. This is condemnable. The government must immediately ensure the restoration of Puthiya Thalaimurai’s broadcast on Arasu Cable.”
Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman called it “a threat to freedom of expression,” adding, “This is a direct intimidation of the media. The attempt to control and suppress journalists is disgraceful.”
BJP leader Nainar Nagendran, in his statement, said, “The DMK government, which has been filing cases against those who expose its failures, has now taken one step further, blocking television channels that broadcast critical news. This exposes the true face of the so-called Dravidian model.”
The Chennai Press Club also condemned the blackout, terming it “an act of suppression against free speech.” Several journalists’ associations across the state have issued statements demanding that the channel’s broadcast be restored immediately.
In June 2018, during the AIADMK government, Puthiya Thalaimurai was reportedly pushed to a less-viewed “non-Tamil” channel slot on Arasu Cable, a move widely criticised as political interference.
At that time, Chief Minister MK Stalin, then the leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, had raised the issue in the Assembly through an attention motion, condemning the AIADMK for “crushing freedom of expression.”
Now, his old post on Twitter (now X) regarding that incident has gone viral, being widely shared in the context of the present blackout allegations.
Similarly, in May this year, the Union government had blocked access to The Wire in India. It was unblocked after they took down a story about a Rafale jet.
In May itself, Kerala-based independent news organisation Maktoob Media said that its account on X had been withheld in India following a legal demand.
In February, the Tamil-language magazine Vikatan had its website blocked after publishing a cartoon that satirised Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Later, the Madras High Court directed the Union government to lift the ban, but also instructed the magazine to remove the cartoon.
In 2023, the Supreme Court had quashed the Union government’s refusal to grant security clearance to Malayalam news channel MediaOne, saying that citing national security concerns as grounds for revoking the licence of a media or TV channel could not be in “thin air” but on substantive material.
In July 2024, the Supreme Court questioned the Union government over the ban on Kannada news channel Power TV from broadcasting, asking about the frequency of such bans pending the disposal of applications for license renewal.
The court also remarked that the attempt to silence the channel seemed to be a “sheer political vendetta” due to its extensive coverage of sexual harassment allegations against former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
