Govt blocks 45 videos from 10 YouTube channels for spreading fake news
Premium- The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has blocked 45 YouTube videos from 10 YouTube channels this time
The Indian government has once again blocked some videos from YouTube channels for spreading false information related to the country's national security, foreign relations, and public order. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has blocked 45 YouTube videos from 10 YouTube channels this time.
“Orders to block the concerned videos were issued on 23.09.2022 under the provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. The blocked videos had cumulative viewership of over 1 crore 30 lakh views," the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said in a statement.
The Ministry of I&B also revealed that the content included fake news and morphed videos spread with the intent to spread hatred among religious communities.
“Examples include false claims such as the Government to have taken away the religious rights of certain communities, violent threats against religious communities, declaration of civil war in India, etc. Such videos were found to have the potential to cause communal disharmony and disrupt public order in the country," it noted.
Some of the videos blocked by the ministry were being used to spread disinformation on issues related to Agnipath scheme, Indian Armed Forces, India’s national security apparatus, Kashmir, etc, it further said.
The content was observed to be false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India’s friendly relations with foreign states, the I&B Ministry said.
“Certain videos depicted erroneous external boundary of India with parts of J&K and Ladakh outside the Indian territory. Such cartographic misrepresentation was found to be detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India," the statement read.
“The content blocked by the Ministry was found to be detrimental to sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, India’s friendly relations with foreign States, and public order in the country. Accordingly, the content was covered within the ambit of section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000," it said.
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