The TVK government has come under fire for blocking channels on Arasu cable TV

AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami. | Photo credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM

AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday complained that the telecast of three Tamil TV channels on the Arasu Cable TV platform had been blocked.

In his social media post, Mr. Palaniswami named the channels as Polimer News, News Tamil TV 24X7 and Tamil Janam News. He recalled how another TV channel, Puthiya Thalaimurai, met a similar fate a few weeks ago and it was only after opposition protest that the channel was put back on air. He wondered if there was a “censorship board” to monitor what appeared on electronic media and social media.

He claimed that sections of the media were being “threatened” by a private firm using the name of the minister’s office, and that the firm was allegedly entrusted with the functions of Arasu Cable TV. Mr. Palaniswami urged the state government to ensure that the telecast of the channels goes on without any interruption.

‘act of revenge’

Former BJP state president K. Annamalai urged the TVK-led government to reverse the reported removal of channels from Arasu Cable TV. In a post on social media, he claimed that the three channels were blocked from broadcasting only because they were broadcasting news about widespread power outages, alleged inefficiency of the TVK government and other problems faced by the general public. It was an act of revenge, he said.

“Blocking news is not the answer in a democracy. This is a wrong approach. I urge the TVK government to resume broadcasting of these channels on Arasu cable TV,” Annamalai added.

AMMK General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran also condemned the blocking of channels on Arasu Cable TV.

Published – 10 Jun 2026 0:15 AM IST