Tue 21 December 2021:
After a coordinated effort between intelligence agencies and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the India government announced today that twenty YouTube Channels and two websites have been blocked for spreading ‘anti-India’ propaganda. The majority of the content dealt with sensitive national security issues, according to the ministry.
Among the 20 YouTube channels ordered to be blocked are those launched by The Naya Pakistan Group (NPG), operating from Pakistan, having a network of YouTube channels, that have a combined subscriber base of over 35 lakh. Their videos have had over 55 crore views.
According to the government, they were used to post divisive content on topics such as Kashmir, the Indian Army, minority communities in India, Ram Mandir, General Bipin Rawat, and others.
The YouTube channels had also posted content on issues such as the farmers’ protest, protests related to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and tried to incite the minorities against the Government of India, the government said.
The 20 YouTube channels include The Punch Line, International Web News, Khalsa Tv, The Naked Truth, News 24, 48 news, Fictional, Historical Facts, Punjab Viral, Naya Pakistan Global and Cover Story, among others.
The two websites, Kashmir Global and Kashmir Watch, have been ordered to be blocked in their entirety.
This is the first time that the Indian information and broadcasting ministry has invoked its powers under the new IT rules.
Earlier, orders to block websites could only be issued by the ministry of electronics and information technology or the department of telecom under the IT Act and the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951.
The two orders to block the YouTube channels and websites were issued by the information and broadcasting secretary Apurva Chandra invoking his emergency powers under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules notified on February 25 this year.
The rules, which were notified in February, have been challenged in court by several digital news media outfits, including LiveLaw and TheWire.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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