YouTubers Dhruv Rathee And Gaurav Taneja Clash Over Uttar Pradesh’s Influencer Policy

The Uttar Pradesh government, led by Yogi Adityanath, has introduced a new social media policy aimed at encouraging influencers to promote government schemes in exchange for rewards up to Rs 8 lakh. While the policy is intended to enhance the state’s welfare initiatives, it has faced significant backlash.

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee has criticised the move as “legalised bribery.” In a recent social media post, Rathee condemned the use of taxpayer money for the policy and urged public shaming of any influencer who participates.

On Thursday, the 29-year-old took to his social media handle and wrote, “Uttar Pradesh Govt is saying it will pay up to ₹8 Lakh to Influencers to promote the govt. This is Legalized Bribery. From Tax Payer’s Money. Any influencer who does this should be publicly shamed.”

While social media users were divided while reacting to his sharp remarks, it also led to a contradictory comment from fellow YouTuber Gaurav Taneja, who came in defence of the policy. Re-sharing Rathee’s post on X, Taneja asked if newspapers and television channels should also be “shamed” for paid government advertisements.

“Should all Newspapers and TV Channels, be also shamed, who show paid ads to promote any govt in power? he wrote.

The clash of words attracted a slew of reactions on the platform. BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover took sides with Rathee’s view and rejected the idea of paying influencers with taxpayer money.

A user reacted to Rathee’s post and wrote, “What is the harm if there are influencers who let people know the good work done by the government.”

Another questioned, “How is that bribery? There are already influencers promoting betting apps and no one shames them.”

An individual commented on Taneja’s post to oppose the social media policy. “A party can pay with Electoral Bond Money if they want to promote their party and their propaganda but they wanted to use hard working taxpayers money for social media influencers in the name of promoting govt schemes. We are against it,” he wrote.

Another one shared a different view, “Yes, those channels should definitely be banned if they are promoting any government by taking money.”

Notably, this is not the first time that Dhruv Rathee and Gaurav Taneja have gotten into a social media argument. Earlier, they clashed over the India vs Bharat debate, which also generated a lot of traction online.