The Indian government banned 94 YouTube channels and 19 social media accounts since 2021 for allegedly publishing fake news and content detrimental to the country’s sovereignty and integrity, the Parliament was informed on Thursday (July 21).
Furthermore, 747 websites have been taken down since 2021 for similar reasons, according to Union Minister Anurag Thakur in Rajya Sabha. Thakur stated that the actions were taken in accordance with Section 69A of the Information Technology Act of 2000. The minister stated that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s (MIB) fact check unit (FCU) has responded to 34,125 actionable queries on various social media platforms. He also stated that appropriate action was taken in response to violations of related norms and codes pertaining to fake news.