Govt orders blocking of 18 Indian, 4 Pakistani YouTube-based news channels

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has directed the blocking of 22 YouTubebased news channels of which four are from Pakistan for allegedly spreading fake news to mislead viewersThis is the first time that action has been taken against the Indian YouTubebased news publishers since the notification of the IT Rules 2021 in February last year it saidIn an official statement the ministry said that it issued an order on Monday to block 22 YouTube channels three Twitter accounts one Facebook account and one news websiteWith this action the ministry has since December 2021 issued directions for blocking 78 YouTubebased news channels and several other social media accounts on grounds related to national security sovereignty and integrity of India public order etcThe blocked YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of over 260 crore the ministry said in an official statement adding that they were spreading fake news and coordinated disinformation over social media on subjects sensitive from the perspective of national security Indias foreign relations and public orderThrough the recent blocking order 18 Indian and four 4 Pakistanbased YouTube news channels have been blocked the ministry said without naming themAccording to the ministry multiple YouTube channels were used to post fake news on various subjects such as the Indian Armed Forces Jammu and Kashmir etcThe content ordered to be blocked also included certain antiIndia content posted from multiple social media accounts operated in a coordinated manner from PakistanIt was observed that a significant amount of false content was published by the Indian YouTube channels related to the ongoing situation in Ukraine and aimed at jeopardising Indias foreign relations with other countries it saidThe ministry said that the blocked Indian YouTube channels were using templates and logos of certain TV news channels including images of their news anchors to mislead the viewers to believe that the news was authenticFalse thumbnails were used title and thumbnail of the videos were frequently altered to increase the virality of content on social media In certain cases it was also observed that systematic antiIndia fake news was originating from Pakistan it saidThe Government of India remains committed towards ensuring an authentic trustworthy and safe online news media environment and thwarting any attempts at undermining Indias sovereignty and integrity national security foreign relations and public order the ministry saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever