Spreading misinformation about Agnipath: Centre blocks 45 videos on 10 YouTube channels

Spreading misinformation about Agnipath: Centre blocks 45 videos on 10 YouTube channels

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has directed YouTube to block 45 videos from 10 channels based on intelligence agency input.

The ministry issued orders under the provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. The blocked videos received over 1 crore 30 lakh views in total.

As per the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the content included fake news and morphed videos that were distributed to instill hatred among religious communities. False claims such as the government removing religious rights from certain communities, violent threats against religious communities, India declaring civil war, and so on are examples.

Some of the videos blocked by the Ministry were reportedly used to spread misinformation about the Agnipath scheme, the Indian Armed Forces, India's national security apparatus, Kashmir, and other topics. The content was found to be false and sensitive in terms of national security and India's friendly relations with foreign countries.

Certain videos allegedly depicted India's incorrect external boundary, with parts of J&K and Ladakh outside Indian territory.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur stated that the content blocked by the Ministry was found to be detrimental to India's sovereignty and integrity, security, friendly relations with foreign states, and public order in the country.

The Minister went on to say that the Indian government is committed to thwarting any attempt to undermine India's sovereignty and integrity, national security, foreign relations, and public order.