Centre blocks 45 YouTube videos for harming national security, spreading communal disharmony

New Delhi: Based on the inputs from intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has directed YouTube to block 45 YouTube videos from 10 YouTube channels.

The blocked videos had cumulative viewership of over 1 crore 30 lakh views, the Union ministry informed.

The videos were blocked under provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 for containing hateful speech against religious communities and spreading communal disharmony. The government said that morphed images and videos were being used to harm India’s national security, foreign relations and public order.

Giving details of the blocked videos, the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said the videos included false claims such as the Government to have taken away the religious rights of certain communities, violent threats against religious communities, declaration of civil war in India, etc. Such videos were found to have the potential to cause communal disharmony and disrupt public order in the country.

The government informed that some of the blocked videos were being used to spread disinformation on issues related to Agnipath scheme, Indian Armed Forces, India’s national security apparatus, Kashmir, etc. The content was observed to be false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India’s friendly relations with foreign States, it said.

Certain videos depicted erroneous external boundary of India with parts of J&K and Ladakh outside the Indian territory. Such cartographic misrepresentation was found to be detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, the government release stated.

The content blocked by the Ministry was found to be detrimental to sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, India’s friendly relations with foreign States, and public order in the country. Accordingly, the content was covered within the ambit of section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.