The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on August 18, 2022 announced the blocking of several social media channels for spreading fake news. The Ministry, utilizing the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021, issued orders on August 16, 2022 for blocking of eight YouTube based news channels, one Facebook account, and two Facebook posts. The blocked YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of over 114 crore, and were subscribed by over 85 lakh users.

Promoting fake news

The Ministry blocked the channels on the line that the content published by some of these YouTube channels spread hatred among religious communities in India. Further, these blocked YouTube channels also made false claims in their videos. For instance, the Government of India has ordered demolition of religious structures; the Government of India has banned celebration of religious festivals, declaration of religious war in India, etc. are some of the false or fake claims by the channels. The YouTube channels were also used to post fake news on various subjects such as the Indian Armed Forces, Jammu and Kashmir, etc. The Government found such content to have the potential to create communal disharmony and disturb public order in the country. Moreso, the content was observed to be completely false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India’s friendly relations with foreign States. The content blocked by the Ministry was found to be detrimental to sovereignty and integrity...

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