Sai Durgha Tej wanted to ‘burn down social media’ when he saw pedophilia ‘joke’ by YouTuber Praneeth Hanumantu

Sai Durgha Tej spoke about YouTuber Praneeth Hanumantu joking about child sexual abuse at the Abhayam Masoom Summit 2025. Here's what he said.

On Saturday, actor Sai Durgha Tej, formerly known as Sai Dharam Tej, attended the Abhayam Masoom Summit 2025 in Hyderabad. He brought up YouTuber Praneeth Hanumantu, who received flak from him and other stars for making a pedophile 'joke’ last year at the summit and said he wanted to ‘burn down social media’ when he saw it.

Sai Durgha Tej called out YouTuber Praneeth Hanumantu last year for making an inappropriate joke.

Sai Durgha Tej on the 2024 incident

At the summit, Sai asked a man to come on stage and read the exact ‘joke’ Praneeth had made last year. After the man read out the comment and stated that there was a ‘disturbing visual’ also along with it, Sai said, “There are 137 people who reacted with laughter emojis, they loved it. Look at where the world is going. The number of people liking it? It’s sad…very disturbing. Is this what we want for our kids, for our society, for our future generations? How can anyone make such disgusting remarks about children? I wanted to burn down social media at that point in time.”

He pointed out that the girl they commented on was just a four-year-old child who later sent him a voice note thanking him for speaking out. Sai stated that he only spoke up about it after he felt like nobody else did, stating, “I waited to see if anyone would talk about this, but no one did. So I took it upon myself to respond. People are hiding behind the label of dark comedy to make senseless, inappropriate remarks. Yes, we have freedom of speech, but it should not come at the cost of hurting others.”

What happened?

In 2024, a podcast clip of a YouTuber called Praneeth ‘joking’ about an inappropriate relationship between a girl child and her father began doing the rounds on social media. It soon drew flak not just from people on the internet, but also from celebrities like Sai, Manchu Manoj, Nara Rohith, Sudhir Babu, Karthikeya and others.

Praneeth issued an apology, calling it his attempt at ‘dark humour’. In July, an FIR was filed against Praneeth at the Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB). He was taken into custody under the IT Act, BNS and POCSO Act. He was also booked for drug consumption under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He received bail in August and has since returned to social media.