Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia has criticised the Indian government after YouTube blocked his video, How Modi and Adani Stole India | The Friendship Files, from being viewed in India following a legal complaint from a government entity.
Sharing a screenshot of the restriction notice on X, accused the government of suppressing information and urged people to support him.
“Of all the despicable things the Indian government has done, nothing is more egregious than silencing the truth. Please 🙏 support me,” he wrote.
According to an email from YouTube shared by Sabeer Bhatia, the platform received a legal complaint from a government entity concerning the video. After reviewing the complaint, YouTube said it had blocked the content on its India site.
The email stated that YouTube removes content when necessary to comply with local laws. It also informed Bhatia that he could submit a form if he believed the restriction had been imposed in error.
The notice did not specify which legal provisions had prompted the complaint or provide further details about the government’s objections to the video.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra also shared a version of Bhatia’s video on X, formerly Twitter, following the restriction.
“They blocked Sabeer’s video. But watch it here to see how Adani & Modi stole India,” Moitra wrote in the caption accompanying her post.
The video’s title refers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and industrialist Gautam Adani.
Sabeer Bhatia is an Indian-American entrepreneur best known for co-founding Hotmail, one of the earliest free web-based email services, in 1996.
After moving from India to the United States, before pursuing graduate studies at Stanford University. He subsequently joined forces with Jack Smith to develop Hotmail, which launched on 4 July 1996.
The service attracted significant interest, prompting Microsoft to acquire Hotmail in 1998 in a deal valued at approximately $400 million in Microsoft stock. The acquisition established Bhatia as a prominent figure in the technology industry.
Following the sale, pursued several entrepreneurial ventures, including Arzoo, Sabse Technologies and AMP Technologies. He also co-founded ShowReel, an AI-powered learning platform, with Javed Yunus in 2021.
Sabeer Bhatia earned a substantial portion of his wealth from Microsoft’s acquisition of Hotmail in 1998 for approximately $400 million in Microsoft stock.
Bhatia subsequently founded and co-founded several technology ventures, including Arzoo, Sabse Technologies, AMP Technologies and ShowReel. However, a reliably verified estimate of his current net worth is not available.
Earlier in August 2026, Sabeer Bhatia had earlier courted controversy by posting “4 Gujaratis are more interested in making money than in nation building”.
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Bhatia’s post, shared on August 8, drew thousands of views and a range of reactions. One response alleged that four individuals were exercising significant control over public infrastructure and assets, citing Mumbai airport as an example and criticising the branding that followed its takeover by the Adani Group.
