New Delhi: The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has blocked 22 YouTube channels for allegedly spreading disinformation related to India’s national security and foreign relations.
These include 18 Indian YouTube news channels that have been blocked for the first time under IT Rules, 2021, and four Pakistan-based YouTube news channels.
The blocked YouTube channels, the Ministry said, were used to spread fake news and coordinated disinformation over social media on sensitive subjects from the perspective of national security, India’s foreign relations and public order.
I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said, ‘Many things shared on these digital platforms did not comply with the IT Rules. Taking this and the malicious content they were disseminating into consideration, we took the decision to block them with immediate effect. We want to assert that if we find any platform being misused for spreading misinformation, fear or anti-India content, we will take stringent action in future also.’
‘Multiple YouTube channels were used to post fake news on various subjects such as the Indian Armed Forces, Jammu and Kashmir, etc. The content ordered to be blocked also included certain anti-India content posted from multiple social media accounts operated in a coordinated manner from Pakistan,’ the Ministry said in a statement.