MIB Blocks 8 YouTube Channels Under IT Rules For Spreading Disinfo

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on Thursday stated that it had issued blocking orders for eight YouTube channels, along with a Facebook account, and two Facebook posts.

According to a statement put out by the MIB, "The blocked YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of over 114 crore, and were subscribed by over 85 lakh users." For the reasons behind blocking these channels, the ministry stated that they were found to spread disinformation on India's national security, foreign relations and public order.

It stated, "The purpose of the content published by some of these YouTube channels was to spread hatred among religious communities in India. False claims were made in various videos of the blocked YouTube channels. Examples include fake news such as the Government of India to have ordered demolition of religious structures; Government of India to have banned celebration of religious festivals, declaration of religious war in India, etc. Such content was found to have the potential to create communal disharmony and disturb public order in the country."

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Furthermore, seven of the channels were stated to be India-based, while one was found to be Pakistan-based.

Here the the details of blocked channels, as per the statement:

Furthermore, the Facebook account of Loktantra TV, with 3.62 lakh followers, was also blocked as per the MIB order, along with two posts it had made.

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Since these channels were blocked for Indian users, BOOM accessed them using a VPN, and found them publishing content that primarily targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Furthermore, most the content being published by these pages had a similar format - slideshows of images with commentary by voiceovers. Additionally, one of the pages - Gouravshali Pawan Mithilanchal - was verified by YouTube.