45 fake news videos on YouTube blocked: Anurag Thakur

New Delhi, September 26

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The government has ordered the blocking of 45 videos from 10 YouTube channels that contained fake news and morphed content with the intent to spread hatred amongst religious communities, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Monday.

Following inputs from intelligence agencies, the order was issued under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.

The blocked videos had a cumulative viewership of over 1.30 crore and claimed that the government had taken away the religious rights of certain communities. “Some of the videos were being used to spread disinformation on issues related to Agnipath, the armed forces, national security apparatus and Kashmir,” an official statement said.

The content was observed to be false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India’s ties with foreign nations, it added. — TNS

Meant to create communal tension

• Videos contained fake news to spread hatred among religious communities
• Targeted Agnipath scheme, armed forces, national security apparatus
• Depicted erroneous external boundary with parts of J&K, Ladakh outside India