Information and Broadcasting Ministry bans & suspends 10 YouTube channels for spreading misinformation

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has banned and suspended 10 YouTube channels. Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said, these Youtube channels were spreading misinformation, trying to sabotage ties with friendly countries and detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. He said, Information and Broadcasting Ministry will take appropriate action against those who will try to spread misinformation in the future.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has directed YouTube to block 45 YouTube videos from 10 YouTube channels.

The Ministry said, content included fake news and morphed videos which were broadcast with an intent to spread hatred among religious communities and disrupt public order. Some of the videos were being used to spread disinformation on issues including the Agnipath scheme, Indian Armed Forces and the country’s national security apparatus.

The Ministry termed the content false and sensitive from the view of national security and India’s friendly relations with foreign States. Few blocked videos had depicted erroneous external boundaries of the country. They depicted Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh outside the Indian territory. The Ministry said, such cartographic misrepresentation was found to be detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.