Millions of views were being collected on fake videos, the central government imposed a lock on 10 YouTube channels

New Delhi: The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has taken a major action on Monday, banning 10 YouTube channels. The ministry has also issued an order to YouTube to block 45 videos of these 10 channels. The central government told that these channels were spreading false information from their platform, after which the decision has been taken to ban them. Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur gave this information on Monday.

An official statement said the videos that have been banned have garnered a total of 1.30 crore views and claim that the government has taken away religious rights of certain communities. “These channels had content that spreads fear and confusion among communities,” Thakur said. According to an official statement, the banned content includes fake news and morphed videos circulated with the intention of spreading hatred among religious communities.

It said, “Some of the videos that have been banned by the ministry were being used to spread misinformation on issues related to Agneepath scheme, Indian Armed Forces, India’s national security apparatus, Kashmir.” According to the statement, this material is considered false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India’s friendly relations with other countries. It said that the order banning these videos was issued on September 23 under the provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Thakur said that earlier the government had banned 102 YouTube channels and Facebook accounts for disturbing communal harmony.