Government banned 16 YouTube channels for spreading misleading information
The government on Monday banned a Facebook account and 16 YouTube channels for spreading misleading information related to the country’s national security, foreign relations and public order. Six of these channels were operating from Pakistan. This information was given in an official statement.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in a statement that the total viewership of YouTube channels and Facebook accounts that have been banned was more than 68 crore and these channels and accounts are causing disturbance to public order and communal harmony in India. They were spreading false, unverified information to create an atmosphere of fear. It said, “None of these digital news publishers had furnished the information required under Rule 18 of the Information Technology Rules, 2021 to the Ministry.”
The ministry said that some of the blocked India-operated YouTube channels were airing such content, in which members of a particular community were being described as terrorists and hatred was being spread between different religious communities. “Such material was found to disturb public order and create communal disharmony,” the statement said.
The ministry said that many YouTube channels in India were broadcasting unverified news and videos, which could create an atmosphere of fear among many sections of the society. It said, ‘These included false claims about the announcement of nationwide lockdown due to Kovid-19, causing panic for migrant workers, besides fabricated claims alleging danger to various religious communities etc. Are included. Such content was found to be harmful to the public order in the country.
According to the ministry, Pakistani YouTube channels, which have been banned from broadcasting, were used in a systematic manner to post fake news about India on a range of topics like military, Jammu and Kashmir and foreign relations in view of the situation in war-torn Ukraine. were found.
“The contents of these channels have been found to be completely false and sensitive from the perspective of national security, sovereignty and integrity of India and India’s friendly relations with other countries,” the ministry said. The ministry last week issued an advisory to private television news channels, warning them not to use false claims and derogatory headlines.
Banned YouTube channels include MRF TV Live, Saini Education Research, Tahafuz-e-Din India and SBB News.
YouTube channels operating from Pakistan include AJ Tak Pakistan, Discover Point, Reality Checks and The Voice of Asia. This comes two days after the ministry issued guidelines regarding TV coverage, citing some news debates over last week’s violence in Jahangirpuri and the Russo-Ukraine war.
In the advisory issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, it was said that no program should be broadcast which is against decency, criticizes friendly countries, attacks religions or communities or contains scenes that despise religious groups or be words.
Let us tell you that earlier this month, the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry had directed the closure of 22 YouTube-based news channels, of which four were from Pakistan. These channels are alleged to have been broadcasting fake news, which threatened national security, foreign relations and public order.
In January last month, using the powers conferred under the IT Rules, 2021, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had ordered the blocking of 35 YouTube channels and two websites for spreading propaganda and coordinated fake news against India.
On January 19, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur had said that the government would continue such action against those “conspirators” against the country. In December last year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in a coordinated effort with intelligence agencies, ordered the blocking of 20 YouTube channels and two websites for spreading “anti-India propaganda” and fake news.
