India: India blocks 22 YouTube news channels citing national security

NEW DELHI, 07 April 2022, (TON): India’s government on said “it has banned 22 YouTube channels, including four of Pakistani origin, for disinformation on subjects concerning national security and public order, the latest such federal crackdown in the country.”

The country’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said the blocked YouTube channels had a combined total of 2.6 billion viewers.

The government, which invoked emergency powers under India’s IT laws, said “it had for the first time blocked 18 Indian YouTube channels, with previous actions focusing on accounts it has said operated from neighboring Pakistan.”

Indian government said in a statement “multiple YouTube channels were used to post fake news on various subjects such as the Indian Armed Forces.”

In December and January, the information ministry used similar emergency powers to block 55 channels on Alphabet Inc’s YouTube, and some Twitter and Facebook accounts.

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