Govt blocks 7 Indian, 1 Pakistani YouTube channels for spreading misinformation

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has blocked eight YouTube channels for spreading misinformation related to India’s national security, foreign relations and public order, it said in a statement. The blocked channels include seven Indian and one Pakistani YouTube news channels. Apart from the channels, the ministry also blocked one Facebook account, and two Facebook posts. 

The government said that the channels had a total viewership of 114 crore, and over 85 lakh subscriptions. 

“The purpose of the content published by some of these YouTube channels was to spread hatred among religious communities in India. False claims were made in various videos of the blocked YouTube channels,” the ministry added. 

Some of the fake news that were propagated by the channels included reports like government ordering the demolition of religious structures, government banning celebration of religious festivals, declaration of religious war in India and more that were found to “create communal disharmony and disturb public order”.

Fake news on subjects such as the Indian armed forces, Jammu and Kashmir were also spread by these channels which were found to be sensitive in terms of national security and India’s friendly relations with foreign states, the ministry said. 

“The blocked Indian YouTube channels were observed to be using fake and sensational thumbnails, images of news anchors and logos of certain TV news channels to mislead the viewers to believe that the news was authentic,” said the ministry. They also displayed advertisements on their videos with false content detrimental to communal harmony, public order and India’s foreign relations, said the government. 

Along with these channels, the government has blocked 102 YouTube-based news channels since December 2021. 

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