What's the news: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) on September 26 said that it has issued orders to YouTube to block 45 videos and 11 channels under powers granted by the IT Rules, 2021. The blocked content was found to be "detrimental to sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, India’s friendly relations with foreign States, and public order in the country," Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said. https://twitter.com/ianuragthakur/status/1574365658048974848?s=20&t=nsbHxZ4Ys1cyiRcbi1ct_g Why was the order issued: "The content included fake news and morphed videos spread with the intent to spread hatred among religious communities. Examples include false claims such as the Government to have taken away the religious rights of certain communities, violent threats against religious communities, declaration of civil war in India, etc. Such videos were found to have the potential to cause communal disharmony and disrupt public order in the country," the Ministry said in its press release. "The blocked videos had cumulative viewership of over 1 crore 30 lakh views," the release stated. What allegedly harmful content was depicted in the videos: "Some of the videos blocked by the Ministry were being used to spread disinformation on issues related to Agnipath scheme, Indian Armed Forces, India’s national security apparatus, Kashmir, etc. The content was observed to be false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India’s friendly relations with foreign States." "Certain videos depicted erroneous external boundary of India with parts of J&K and Ladakh outside the Indian territory. Such cartographic misrepresentation was…
