The pretext of the government is to prevent disinformation on matters of national security and public order.
India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said all blocked YouTube channels had a total of 2.6 billion subscribers.
“Several YouTube channels are used to post fake news on various topics like Indian Armed Forces,” the Indian government said, as published by Reuters cited Tuesday (5/4).
In December and January, the Ministry of Information also did the same to block 55 channels on YouTube, and several Twitter and Facebook accounts.
The Indian government has passed new IT rules introduced in 2021. Most of these laws are aimed at regulating large social media companies and giving the government more power to remove content.
India is now seeking tougher action against US tech giants, including Google and Facebook, for what it describes as fake news on their platforms.
At a meeting in February, Indian officials told the company that their inaction forced the government to order the content removed.
Ultimately, the action sparked international criticism that the authorities suppressed free speech.
At the meeting, Google had proposed that the ministry avoid making public blocking decisions, but the idea was vehemently rejected by Indian officials.
