The Ministry of Information Broadcasting has directed YouTube to block 45 videos from 10 YouTube channels for spreading fake news and morphed videos with the intent to spread hatred among religious communities. The blocked videos, including one video by YouTuber Dhruv Rathi, had a cumulative viewership of over 1 crore 30 lakh views.
Examples include false claims such as the government has taken away the religious rights of certain communities, violent threats against religious communities, declaration of civil war in India, etc. The government said that such videos could cause communal disharmony and disrupt public order in the country.
Some of the blocked videos by the ministry were used to spread disinformation about issues related to the Agnipath scheme, the Indian Armed Forces, India's national security apparatus, and Kashmir. The ministry said that the content was perceived to be false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India's friendly relations with foreign States.
Certain videos depicted an erroneous external boundary of India with parts of J&K and Ladakh outside the Indian territory. It said that such cartographic misrepresentation was found to be detrimental to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.
The ministry blocked content that was found to be harmful to India's sovereignty and integrity, security of the state, India's friendly relations with foreign States, and public order in the country, it added.