The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said the blocked YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of more than 260 crore, and used logos of TV news channels and false thumbnails to mislead viewers
Image credit- News18
New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Tuesday blocked 22 YouTube based news channels, including 4 Pakistan based channels, for spreading disinformation related to India’s national security, foreign relations and public order.
The remaining 18 are Indian YouTube news channels, which have been blocked for the first time under IT Rules, 2021. The I&B Ministry said, “This is the first time action has been taken on the Indian YouTube based news publishers since the notification of the IT Rules, 2021 in February last year.”
The ministry further said the blocked YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of more than 260 crore, and “were used to spread fake news, and coordinated disinformation over social media on subjects sensitive from the perspective of national security, India’s foreign relations, and public order.”
It said the YouTube channels used logos of TV news channels and false thumbnails to mislead viewers. “False thumbnails were used; and title and thumbnails of the videos were frequently altered to increase the virality of content on social media. In certain cases, it was also observed that systematic anti-India fake news was originating from Pakistan,” the I&B Ministry said.
Along with the YouTube news channels, the Indian government has also blocked three Twitter accounts, a Facebook account and news website.
The I&B Ministry said on the analysis of content of the multiple YouTube channels it was found that they were being used to post fake news on various subjects including the Indian Armed Forces, Jammu and Kashmir.
The content which were ordered to be blocked also included “certain anti-India content which were posted from multiple social media accounts operated in a coordinated manner from Pakistan.”
The ministry said that a significant amount of false contest published or shown by the now banned YouTube channels were related to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and were aimed at “jeopardizing India’s foreign relations with other countries”.
With this, the government of India, since December 2021, has issued directions for blocking 78 YouTube based news channels and a host of other social media accounts.
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