New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) on Tuesday blocked as many as 22 YouTube channels for spreading misinformation regarding India's national security.
Interestingly, four Pakistan-based YouTube channels were also banned by the centre for the very same reason.
''It happened to be the first time that Indian YouTube channels were being blocked under the new IT Rules of 2021,'' the government said in a statement.
In addition to these, the ministry has also blocked three Twitter accounts, one Facebook account, and one news website.
The government also laid out the details of these YouTube channels as to why they were blocked. It also showed screenshots of the kind of content these channels were showing.
As per the statement, logos of TV news channels as well as false thumbnails were being used by these YouTube channels in order to misguide their viewers.
The release from the I&B Ministry stated that the Indian YouTube channels which were blocked were deliberately using templates and logos of certain TV news channels, which even included the images of their news anchors and it was done to mislead the viewers into believing that the news was authentic.
It also claimed that these channels used false thumbnails and they often altered the title and thumbnail of the videos in order to make them viral on social media platforms.
In certain cases, it was also observed that systematic anti-India fake news was originating from Pakistan.
Here is the list of the YouTube channels that were blocked by the government.
ARP News (Total Views: 4,40,68,652)
AOP News (Total Views: 74,04,673)
LDC News (4,72,000 subscribers and 6,46,96,730 total views)
SarkariBabu (2,44,000 subscribers and 4,40,14,435 total views)
SS ZONE Hindi (Total Views:5,28,17,274)
Smart News (Total Views: 13,07,34,161)
News23Hindi (Total Views: 18,72,35,234)
Online Khabar (Total Views: 4,16,00,442)
DP news (Total Views: 11,99,224)
PKB News (Total Views: 2,97,71,721)
KisanTak (Total Views: 36,54,327)
Borana News (Total Views: 2,46,53,931)
Sarkari News Update (Total Views: 2,05,05,161)
Bharat Mausam (2,95,000 subscribers and 7,04,14,480 Total Views)
RJ ZONE 6 (Total Views: 12,44,07,625)
Exam Report (Total Views: 3,43,72,553)
Digi Gurukul (Total Views: 10,95,22,595)
दिनभरकीखबरें (Total Views: 23,69,305)
DuniyaMeryAagy (4,28,000 subscribers and 11,29,96,047 total views)
Ghulam NabiMadni (Total Views: 37,90,109)
HAQEEQAT TV (40,90,000 subscribers and 1,46,84,10,797 Total Views)
HAQEEQAT TV 2.0 (3,03,000 subscribers and 37,542,059 total views)
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