Patna: The Indian government took firm action by blocking 16 YouTube channels—six from Pakistan and ten from India—for spreading misinformation harmful to national security, public order, and communal peace. This step reflects the seriousness of the government in protecting the digital information environment.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting exercised emergency powers under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, to enforce these bans.
The channels blocked as a whole had over 680 million viewers and were found to be propagating fake and unverified information. These included fake news about the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir, and foreign relations of India, specifically relating to the scenario in Ukraine. The ministry stressed that this misinformation was a threat to India’s sovereignty, integrity, and international relations.
Furthermore, the government issued a warning to the BBC about its reporting of the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. The BBC was criticized for a possible misinterpretation of facts and failure to follow journalistic practices. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has demanded the re-examination of the BBC’s reporting policies to conform to Indian media standards.
