I&B Ministry blocks 20 anti-India Pakistani YouTube channels, 2 websites: 5 points

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry blocked 20 Pakistani YouTube channels and 2 websites for spreading anti-India propaganda and fake news. The ministry invoked, for the first time, emergency powers under Rule 16 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra requested department of telecom to direct the Internet Service Providers to block the news channels and portals. The official is also said to have written to YouTube, requesting the platform to ban content that disrupts India's sovereignty and integrity, Economic Times reported. 

Here's what I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said on the recent development.

We have taken action against cross border activities aimed to spread unrest in India by way of spreading fake news and propaganda. YouTube channels and web portals were violating domestic laws and strong action has been taken against them: Union I&B Minister @ianuragthakur pic.twitter.com/ky9Ycbcvxc

— Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (@MIB_India) December 21, 2021

Here’s a quick glance at what all has been said and done by the government.

1. ANTI-INDIA CONTENT

The I&B Ministry in its statement has said that the websites that have been blocked belong to a string of coordinated disinformation networks that spread false information against sensitive topics in India like Kashmir, Indian Army, minority communities in India, General Bipin Rawat’s death, Ram Mandir, etc.

2. GENERAL BIPIN RAWAT’S DEATH

The ministry swung into action after a lot of videos were put on these websites that questioned India's former CDS General Bipin Rawat’s death, which occured due to a helicopter crash in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu on December 8. Initially, the content was flagged by the security agencies, after which I&B Ministry conducted an inquiry and once it was clear that the flagged YouTube channels were spreading misinformation and hate, the ministry decided to block them. It tracked down 20 YouTube channels that promote anti-India content.

3. THE NAYA PAKISTAN GROUP

According to the ministry, the modus operandi of the anti-India campaign network emanates from the Naya Pakistan Group (NPG), which has a number of YouTube channels under its umbrella. There are also a number of channels that are not under the NPG, but they have been banned by the government.

The channels have a combined subscriber base of over 35 lakh, while their YouTube views on videos run up to 55 crore. The government also said that some of these channels are being run by Pakistani news channel anchors.

4. THE FIVE ELECTION STATES

The government in its statement also mentioned that some of these channels had an agenda of disrupting democratic process and affecting the election in the five Indian states that are going to polls in February 2022. The channels are also said to have posted against the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019, on the Farmers Protest in 2021 in India.

5. LIST OF BLOCKED PAKISTANI YOUTUBE CHANNELS

•  The Punch Line
•  International Web news
•  Khalsa TV
•  The Naked Truth
•  News24
•  48 News
•  Fictional
•  Historical Facts
•  Punjab Vira
•  Naya Pakistan Global
•  Cover Story
•  Go Global eCommerce
•  Junaid Haleem Officia
•  Tayyab Hanif
•  Zain Ali Official
•  Mohsin Rajput Official
•  Kaneez Fatima
•  Sadaf Durani
•  Mian Imran Ahmad
• Najam Ul Hassan Bajwa