India Bans 20 Anti-India YouTube Channels Under New IT Rules
The Information and Broadcasting ministry has ordered the banning of two Kashmir-related websites and 20 Pakistani YouTube channels as they were spreading misinformation and fake news against India.
The channels and websites belong to a "coordinated disinformation network operating from Pakistan and spreading fake news about various sensitive subjects related to India", the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the banning order is being issued in a “coordinated effort with intelligence agencies”.
The two separate orders for the channels and website were the first to be issued by the ministry to "secure the information space in India, and utilized emergency powers under the Rule 16 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021".
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that we have taken action against websites spreading anti-India propaganda and fake news. The YouTube channel and website belong to a propaganda network run from Pakistan and are spreading fake news about various sensitive topics related to India.
The disinformation campaign was operated from Pakistan by the Pakistani news anchors under the Naya Pakistan Group (NPG). Of the banned channels, 15 are owned by the NPG and other YouTube channels were standalone. NPG group has a subscriber base of at least 3.5 million and their videos had over 55 crore views.
