Centre Cracks Down On 6 YouTube Channels For Spreading Fake News

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting cracked down on six YouTube channels that were allegedly spreading false information. The Ministry said they were coordinating with each other to spread disinformation. 

New Delhi: The PIB Fact Check Unit (FCU) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting cracked down on six YouTube channels that were allegedly spreading false information. The Ministry said they were coordinating with each other to spread disinformation.

“The Fact Check Unit released six separate Twitter threads having over 100 fact-checks to counter the fake news spread by these channels,” I&B Ministry said in a press release.

The six YouTube channels were found to be operating as part of a coordinated disinformation network, had nearly 20 lakh subscribers and their videos have been watched over 51 crore times, the ministry added.

The YouTube channels exposed by the PIB Fact Check unit spread fake news about the elections, proceedings in the Supreme Court and Parliament of India, functioning of the Government of India, etc.

“Examples include false claims regarding ban on Electronic Voting Machines, and false statements attributed to senior Constitutional functionaries including the President of India, Chief Justice of India,” the ministry said. The channels are part of a fake news economy that thrives on monetization of fake news.

The channels use fake, clickbait and sensational thumbnails and images of television news anchors of TV channels to mislead the viewers to believe that the news was authentic and drive traffic to their channels in order to monetize the videos published by them.

This is the second such action from the PIB FCU where entire channels are busted for spreading false information. In an earlier major action, on 20 December, 2022, the unit had exposed three channels peddling fake news.