22 YouTube channels blocked over ‘anti-India’ content

In an order issued on Monday, the ministry said these YouTube channels used logos of TV news channels and false thumbnails to mislead viewers.

In addition, three Twitter accounts, one Facebook account, and one news website were also blocked.

“These channels were involved in spreading misinformation impacting India’s sovereignty, national security & relations with other countries. They were spreading fake news about the pandemic & Russia-Ukraine crisis. We won’t shy away from taking such action in future,” Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said on Tuesday.

“The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, utilizing the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021, has issued orders on 04.04.2022 for blocking of twenty-two (22) YouTube based news channels, three (3) Twitter accounts, one (1) Facebook account, and one (1) news website. The blocked YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of over 260 crore, and were used to spread fake news, and coordinated disinformation over social media on subjects sensitive from the perspective of national security, India’s foreign relations, and public order,” the ministry said in a statement.

Among channels in India that were blocked, one named ARP News had 4.4 crore subscribers, followed by AOP News with 74 lakh subscribers, and LDC News with 4.7 lakh subscribers.

Among Pakistani YouTube channels blocked, ‘Duniya Mery Aagy’ had 4.2 lakh subscribers with its total views crossing 11.2 crore, ‘Ghulam Nabi Madni’ had over 37.09 lakh views, and ‘HAQEEQAT TV’ had more than 40 lakh subscribers.

The Twitter accounts blocked by the government are all Pakistan-based handles and associated with the same YouTube channels that were blocked, including ‘Ghulam Nabi Madni’, with 5,553 followers, ‘Dunya Mery Aagy’ with 4,063 followers (the channel’s Facebook page too was banned) and ‘Haqeeqat TV’ with 3,23,800 followers.

The ministry said multiple YouTube channels were used to post fake news on many subjects, including the Indian armed forces and Jammu and Kashmir. It said content ordered to be blocked included certain “anti-India” content posted from multiple social media accounts operated in a coordinated manner from Pakistan.

According to screen grabs shared by the ministry, the channels posted fake headlines on India’s involvement in the Ukraine-Russia war, fake announcements on nation-wide shutdown in India, and fake headlines on attacks on India by other countries.

“It was observed that a significant amount of false content published by these Indian YouTube based channels related to the ongoing situation in Ukraine, and aimed at jeopardizing India’s foreign relations with other countries,” the ministry stated.

Since December 2021, the I&B Ministry has issued directions for blocking 78 YouTube-based news channels and several other social media accounts on grounds related to national security.

“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 authentic. False thumbnails were used; and 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 anti-India fake news was originating from Pakistan,” the ministry stated.