YouTube's full-page newspaper ad encouraging the public to trust the advice of 'experts', with the G20 and IT Ministry's logos included, prompted India's Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar to clarify that the position isn't an "endorsement" by the government. The ad centred popular finance YouTuber Rachana Ranade. "Given that these type of advocacy ads cud be misintepreted, i hv advised more careful use of Govt logos in these campaigns by private platforms," Chandrasekhar tweeted yesterday, within hours of the ad being flagged by journalist Sucheta Dalal. Just to be very clear - this is not an endorsement of any person or any social media platform. @suchetadalal @GoI_MeitY encourages all digital platforms to create awareness of Safe&Trust And Accountable #Internet and is supportive of all genuine campaigns/advocacy for this but… https://t.co/WqfcGPLeXu — Rajeev Chandrasekhar ?? (@Rajeev_GoI) June 26, 2023 Notably, India's Securities and Exchange Board of India recently cracked down on finance influencers offering investment advice without the requisite qualifications. MediaNama has reached out to Google for comments, this piece will be updated if they respond. Why it matters: While Chandrasekhar clarified the government's non-endorsement here, it's still unclear as to how the Indian government is actually engaging with influencers at large. This is important because the government has recently turned to influencers to discuss its work—even floating a tender earlier this year to empanel influencer marketing agencies to enhance the reach of its "MyGov" projects. As commentators noted yesterday, in response to influencer podcasts featuring government ministers like Chandrasekhar, the fact…
