'Anti-India' propaganda channels, websites banned
NEW DELHI: India has banned 20 YouTube channels and two websites for allegedly running anti-India propaganda from Pakistan, a report said.
Among the channels banned, 15 are owned by the Naya Pakistan group, while the others include 'The Naked Truth', '48 News' and 'Junaid Halim official'.
The total subscriber base of these YouTube channels is estimated to be 3.5 million and their content related to India has had more than 500 million views.
I&B secretary Apurva Chandra, according to The Economic Times, wrote to YouTube and the Department of Telecom, directing them to immediately block the content as it "affects the sovereignty and integrity of India."
The online propaganda was allegedly being run with the aid of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The report quoting a senior official in the I&B ministry said, "this is for the first time that the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021 have been cited to ban anti-India propaganda websites."