The
Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has blocked eight
YouTube channels, seven Indian and one Pakistan based, for spreading
disinformation related to the country's national security, foreign
relations and public order.
The Ministry, utilizing the emergency
powers under the IT Rules, 2021, had issued orders for blocking the
eight YouTube news channels, one Facebook account, and two Facebook
posts.
The blocked YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of over 114 crore, and were subscribed by over 85 lakh users.
Analysis
of content revealed that the purpose of the content published by some
of these YouTube channels was to spread hatred among religious
communities in India.
False
claims were made in various videos of the blocked channels and content
was found to have the potential to create communal disharmony and
disturb public order in the country.
The channels were also used
to post fake news on various subjects such as the Indian Armed Forces,
Jammu and Kashmir, etc. The content was observed to be completely false
and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India's
friendly relations with foreign States.
The content blocked by
the Ministry was found to be detrimental to sovereignty and integrity of
India, security of the State, India's friendly relations with foreign
States, and public order in the country. Accordingly, the content was covered within the ambit of section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The
blocked Indian YouTube channels were observed to be using fake and
sensational thumbnails, images of news anchors and logos of certain TV
news channels to mislead the viewers to believe that the news was
authentic.
All
the eight channels were displaying advertisements on their videos
having false content detrimental to communal harmony, public order and
India's foreign relations.
With this action, since December 2021,
the Ministry has issued directions for blocking 102 YouTube based news
channels and several other social media accounts.
"The government
of India remains committed towards ensuring an authentic, trustworthy,
and safe online news media environment, and thwarting any attempts at
undermining India's sovereignty and integrity, national security,
foreign relations, and public order," the Ministry said.
