22 YouTube channels blocked over fake news

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 5

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, utilising the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021, has issued orders for blocking 22 YouTube news channels (18 Indian and four based in Pakistan), three Twitter accounts, one Facebook account and one news website.

The blocked YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of over 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.

This is the first time action has been taken on the Indian YouTube channels since the notification of the IT Rules, 2021, in February last year.

These channels were used to post fake news on various subjects such as the IAF, J&K, 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.

It was observed that a significant amount of false content published by these Indian YouTube channels related to the ongoing situation in Ukraine, and aimed at jeopardising India’s foreign relations with other countries.

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