6 Pakistani YouTube channels spreading propaganda in the country have been blocked on the orders of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of India. Along with this, this action has also been taken on 10 other YouTube channels running from India. All these channels together had a viewership of close to 68 crores. The government believes that these channels were being used to spread fake news on social media. Apart from this, from the point of view of the internal security of the country, the right thing was not being said on these channels. Incorrect comments were also being made on these channels about India’s foreign affairs, communal harmony and social order.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, none of these channels had informed the central government about their broadcast under the IT Rules, 2021. The ministry said, “In some YouTube channels operating from India, a particular community was being addressed as a terrorist. This threatened to create animosity between different communities. Such material could create a situation of nuisance and ill-will in the society. Apart from this, there was a danger of the system getting disturbed. The ministry said that keeping all such things in mind, the decision to block these channels was taken.
Rumors were being spread like lockdown
Not only this, the government said that there were many channels running from India, in which news was being broadcast without any verification. Wrong videos were being shown, due to which there was a situation of fear in different sections of the society. The statement said, ‘There are some examples of fake news that many times wrong information has been given that the government is considering imposing a lockdown due to Corona across India. Due to this, there was a situation of fear among the migrated labourers. Apart from this, wrong information was also given about some religions and their followers were said to be in danger. The danger of breaking the system of the country was because of them.
Fake news was being given about India from Pakistan
The ministry said that false information was being broadcast against India in a systematic manner through channels based in Pakistan. False information was being broadcast continuously on issues like Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir, Ministry of External Affairs of India, situation in Ukraine. The ministry said that the content of these channels was found to be completely wrong. Apart from this, it was also not right from the point of view of national security, sovereignty and integrity of the country.