Centre blocks 45 YouTube videos from 10 channels
I&B minister Anurag Thakur said these channels had content that spread fear and misconception among communities
New Delhi: Based on inputs from intelligence agencies, the information and broadcasting ministry has blocked 45 videos from 10 YouTube channels that contained fake news and morphed videos spread with the intent to spread hate among religious communities. The blocked videos had cumulative viewership of over 1.30 crore people and alleged that the government had taken away the religious rights of certain communities.
I&B minister Anurag Thakur said these channels had content that spread fear and misconception among communities. The I&B ministry said that the blocked content includes false claims and violent threats against religious communities, the declaration of a “civil war” in India, etc. “Such videos were found to have the potential to cause communal disharmony and disrupt public order in the country,” the ministry said.
Some of the blocked videos were being used to spread disinformation on issues related to the Agnipath scheme, the armed forces, the national security apparatus and Kashmir.
“The content was observed to be false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India’s friendly relations with foreign states. Certain videos depicted an erroneous external boundary of India with parts of J&K and Ladakh shown outside Indian territory. Such cartographic misrepresentation was found to be detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India,” the ministry said.
“Accordingly, the content was covered within the ambit of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000. The Government of India remains committed to thwart any attempts at undermining India’s sovereignty and integrity, national security, foreign relations, and public order,” the ministry said.
Mr Thakur said: “Earlier, the government had blocked 102 YouTube channels and five Twitter, four Facebook and three Instagram accounts that sought to create communal disharmony.”
Orders to block the videos were issued on September 23 under provisions of the Information Technology Rules 2021.