‘Affects sovereignty of India’: Centre ‘bans’ 20 YouTube channels and two websites under new IT rules

The central government banned two websites and 20 YouTube channels for “anti-India content”. Economic Times reported today. For the first time, the government invoked emergency provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

According to the report, information and broadcast secretary Apurva Chandra wrote to YouTube and the department of telecom, asking them to block the content as “it affects the sovereignty and integrity of India”. Officials from the ministry said that the propagandist content was being shown with the aid of Pakistan inter-services intelligence.

ET identified one of the YouTube channels as Naya Pakistan. Accused of running “fake news” on Ayodhya, the farm laws, and Kashmir, the channel has over two million subscribers. Out of the 20 YouTube channels banned, 15 are reportedly owned by Naya Pakistan; others include The Naked Truth, Junaid Halim Official and 48 News.

Content was first flagged by “security agencies”, after which the I&B ministry conducted an inquiry. A senior official told ET: “This is for the first time that the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021 have been cited to ban anti-India propaganda websites...The inquiry revealed that these websites were being run from Pakistan. The content run on these channels is blasphemous and hugely impinges on national security.”