India blocks over 35 Pakistani YouTube channels, news websites

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 22 January 2022

The Indian government has blocked 35 YouTube channels from Pakistan, accusing them of disseminating fake news. This action follows a similar ban last year on 20 channels for airing anti-India content.

Summary

ISLAMABAD—The Indian government banned 35 YouTube channels and multiple social media accounts operating from Pakistan on Friday.

Indian Secretary Information & Broadcasting Apurva Chandra announced that content posted by these YouTube channels and accounts had nearly 130 crore views.

"These accounts were operating from Pakistan. They were propagating fake news and unleashing a fake news war against India," the secretary said.

Joint Secretary I&B Vikram Sahay said that action had been initiated against these YouTube channels and social media accounts as per the IT Rules.

"We have banned 35 YouTube channels, two Twitter handles, two Instagram handles, two websites and one Facebook account," he said.

YouTube channels blocked by the Indian government include Khabar with Facts, Global Truth, Information Hub, Apni Dunya TV and Bol Media TV, among others. The two websites blocked by the ministry have been identified as "whiteproductions.com.pk" and "dnowmedia.com."

Similar action was initiated by the ministry in December of last year when 20 YouTube channels were blocked for airing 'anti-India' content.

The Naya Pakistan Group (NPG), based in Pakistan, was one of the 20 YouTube channels ordered to be removed. NPG has a YouTube following of over 3.5 million. Their videos have been seen over 550 million times as per the ministry.

"Many of the NPG's YouTube channels were run by anchors from Pakistani news channels," the ministry claimed.

International Web News, Khalsa TV, The Punch Line, 48 News, The Naked Truth, News 24, Fictional Historical Facts, Punjab Viral, Naya Pakistan Global, and Cover Story were among the 20 channels blocked for Indian viewers.

Additionally, the two websites, The Kashmir Global and Kashmir Watch were also completely blocked by the Indian government.

KEY POINTS:

• 35 YouTube channels and multiple social media accounts banned by India.
• Accusations of spreading fake news against India.
• Similar bans previously implemented in December on 20 channels.
• Affected channels include Khabar with Facts and Apni Dunya TV.
• Two websites also blocked as part of the crackdown.