MIB blocks 45 videos from 10 YouTube channels
The ministry said the videos contain hateful speech against religious communities and spread communal disharmony
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has directed YouTube to block 45 videos from 10 of its channels based on inputs from intelligence agencies. The order to block the concerned videos was issued on September 23 under the provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. The blocked videos had a cumulative viewership of over 1 crore 30 lakh views.
As per the ministry, the content included fake news and morphed videos that intented to spread hatred among religious communities.
The videos blocked by the ministry were being used to spread disinformation on issues related to the Agnipath scheme, the Indian Armed Forces, India’s national security apparatus and Kashmir. The content was observed to be false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India’s friendly relations with foreign states.
Certain videos depicted the erroneous external boundary of India with parts of J&K and Ladakh outside the Indian territory.
Speaking on the issue, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur has said that the content blocked by the ministry was found to be detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, India’s friendly relations with foreign states, and public order in the country.
The minister further said that the government of India remains committed to thwarting any attempts at undermining India’s sovereignty and integrity, national security, foreign relations, and public order.
