iWorld
Sebi takes down 1.2 lakh finfluencer posts, deploys AI Sudarshan
Regulator sharpens digital watch as retail investors face options losses
NEW DELHI: The Securities and Exchange Board of India has pulled down more than 1.2 lakh misleading social media posts shared by unregistered financial influencers, tightening its grip on the fast-growing but often murky world of online investment advice.
Speaking to ANI, Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the regulator acted against content that crossed the line from financial education into outright misdirection.
“We have removed more than 120,000 such pieces of content where we found egregious behaviour violating our norms,” Pandey said, underlining that only Sebi-registered entities are allowed to offer investment advice.
Registration, he explained, is not a mere formality. It comes with clear do’s and don’ts designed to protect investors. While individuals are free to share opinions and educate audiences under the right to freedom of expression, Sebi steps in when advice strays into misleading territory.
The watchdog is not relying on manual policing alone. It has rolled out an in-house artificial intelligence tool called ‘Sudarshan’, capable of scanning multilingual audio, video and text content to detect violations across platforms. The name is fitting. In mythology, Sudarshan is a spinning weapon. In this case, it slices through dubious digital claims.
Pandey said social media platforms have cooperated with takedown orders, reinforcing Sebi’s authority to demand removal of offending content.
The regulator’s sharper focus comes amid a surge in retail participation in derivatives trading, particularly options, in the post-Covid period. According to Pandey, many small investors were swayed by online narratives promising easy money.
Sebi responded by publishing data showing substantial collective losses and by introducing statutory warnings. Now, whenever investors trade in options, a pop-up cautions that nine out of ten investors lose money, a stark reminder modelled on health warnings seen elsewhere.
Pandey described regulation as a calibrated exercise rather than a blunt-force operation. Market development, he said, requires precision. “It is not about a sledgehammer approach but more like a surgeon’s knife, identifying problem areas and dealing with them.”
Calling the past year “a year of reform”, the Sebi chief said the regulator’s goal remains balanced oversight, ensuring markets are neither choked by over-regulation nor left exposed by too little scrutiny.
For India’s growing tribe of retail investors, the message is simple. Scroll carefully, trust cautiously and remember that in markets, if something sounds too good to be true, it often is.
iWorld
T20 World Cup ’26: India–England semi-final sets global streaming record of 619 million views on JioHotstar
India–England semi-final records 65.2 million peak streams
MUMBAI: The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 set a new milestone in global sports streaming, as the India–England semi-final drew record digital audiences on JioHotstar.
The match on 5 March registered 65.2 million peak concurrent viewers, the highest ever recorded for a live event on any streaming platform worldwide. The semi-final also generated 619 million views, making it the most streamed T20 international match in history.
The landmark audience numbers were driven largely by viewers in India, setting a record achieved within a single market, rather than through aggregated viewership across multiple countries.
The high-scoring encounter between India national cricket team and England cricket team produced 499 runs across both innings, fuelling widespread fan engagement across platforms.
According to the International Cricket Council, the digital record surpassed the previous global benchmark of 65 million concurrent viewers, set in November 2024 by another international streaming platform.
Across television and digital platforms combined, the semi-final reached more than 320 million viewers, while total watch time exceeded 23 billion minutes, making it the most watched T20 international match ever.
“This World Cup demonstrates the immense passion of cricket fans and the progress made in bringing the game closer to audiences worldwide,” said ICC chairman Jay Shah.
“This moment reflects the scale of cricket fandom in India and the technological capability required to serve hundreds of millions of viewers simultaneously.”
JioStar vice-chairman Uday Shankar, said the audience surge underscored the future of large-scale digital entertainment.
“One in every three Indians tuned in to watch the second semi-final. Delivering such an experience at scale requires the very best of technology,” he said.
The 619 million views during the match also eclipsed the 533 million views recorded during the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
With the final yet to be played, the 2026 tournament has already set multiple benchmarks in audience reach and digital engagement.
India will face the New Zealand national cricket team in the final on 8 March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and streamed on JioHotstar.
