The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has informed that 7 Indian and 1 Pakistan-based YouTube channel have been blocked under IT rules, 2021. The ministry has informed that the blocked channels had a combined viewership of over 144 crores, and a total of 85 lakhs 73 thousand subscribers.
The channels were blocked for airing fake anti-India content and earning money from it.
In its press release, the Ministry of I and B stated, “The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, utilizing the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021, has issued orders on 16.08.2022 for blocking of eight (8) YouTube-based news channels, one (1) Facebook account, and two Facebook posts. The blocked YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of over 114 crores, were subscribed by over 85 lakh users”.
The statement added that the blocked channels were found to be airing fake, sensationalised content aimed at flaring religious hatred between communities and were frequently using fake, misleading content about Indian Armed Forces, Jammu and Kashmir and India’s foreign and domestic policy. They often used fake, sensational thumbnails using the logo of mainstream news channels and photos of popular news anchors to make the videos appear as legitimate news from reliable sources.
The PIB statement read further that with the latest ban on 8 YouTube channels, the government of India has now banned over 102 YouTube-based ‘news’ channels and their accounts on other social media sites since December 2021.
The names of the recently banned fake news channels are as follows
- Loktantra TV with over 12.9 lakh subscribers
- U&V TV with over 10.2 lakh subscribers
- AM Razvi with over 95,900 subscribers
- Gauravshali Pawan Mithilanchal with 7 lakh subscribers
- SeeTop5TH with 33.5 lakh subscribers
- Sarkari Update with over 80,000 subscribers
- Sab Kuch Dekho with 19.4 lakh subscribers
- News Ki Duniya (Pakistan) with 97,000 subscribers
Apart from the above Youtube channels, the Facebook account of Loktantra TV has also been banned. The detailed PIB press release can be read here.