Modi government’s surgical strike, for the first time using ‘special power’, banned 2 news websites and 20 YouTube channels

The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fully committed to the security of the country. That is why the Modi government has carried out surgical strikes on news websites and YouTube channels, which have become a threat to the security of the country. The Modi government on Monday (December 20, 2021) banned two news websites and 20 YouTube channels spreading anti-national propaganda for the first time on the basis of the recently incorporated guidelines in the IT Act.

These channels and websites were allegedly operated from Pakistan
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued an order in writing to YouTube for this. Apoorva Chandra, secretary of the ministry, wrote a letter to YouTube and the Department of Telecommunications and directed them to block them immediately. According to officials, this propaganda was being spread with the help of Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan. In this, a YouTube channel named ‘Naya Pakistan’ was being run, which had more than two million subscribers on YouTube.

After warnings from security agencies, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting investigated the content of these channels. For the first time, emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021 were used to ban anti-India propaganda websites, a senior official said. According to the official, investigation revealed that these websites and channels were being run from Pakistan. The content played on these YouTube channels is not good in terms of national security.

Of the YouTube channels banned by India, 15 are owned by the ‘Naya Pakistan’ group, while others include ‘The Naked Truth’, ’48 News’ and ‘Junaid Haleem Adhikari’. According to ministry officials, the decision to ban and block these channels and websites will be placed before the Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) in 48 hours. This will then be ratified by a committee under the IT Rules, 2021.

Significantly, in the investigation of the ministry, it was revealed that some videos were about Article 370 and Taliban fighters moving towards Kashmir. These YouTube channels had a total of 3.5 million subscribers and their content has been viewed more than 500 million times in India. It has also come to the fore in the investigation that these channels had played fake videos about the protest of the farmers. The Naya Pakistan group runs more than 15 channels on YouTube.