Responding to a question in Rajya Sabha over the ban on websites and other platforms in digital space, the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur revealed that the government has banned 747 websites, 94 YouTube Channels, and 19 social media accounts in the year 2021-22. Thakur in his response further added that the government has taken the step for the larger interest of the nation. The action of cracking down on these digital operatives was done by exercising the power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The case of this story dates back to April, when the government banned 22 YouTube channels, including 4 with links from Pakistan, and a total of 55 in January and December last year. Concerning national security and the propagation of disinformation against the state and national agencies. “These channels were even releasing statements against the Indian Armed Forces”, the government said in its statement while imposing a ban on these platforms.
Last year the Indian government passed a legislature of self-regulating mechanism for the social media intermediaries in the form of IT Rules. Through this, the government asked social media giants to release monthly data on the action taken against the accounts spreading fake news and disturbing the communal harmony in the nation. After the law came into force Twitter and the Indian government were at loggerheads each other where Twitter was up for its community policy of upholding free speech and was against the norms of sharing account details citing a threat to privacy. The battle was taken to court, and after a lot of ruckuses for a couple of months at last Twitter agreed to comply with the law.
Further, quite a similar statement was released by the Ministry on Thursday, it was informed that these sites and platforms were spreading fake news and hate against India. The government is committed to safeguarding the integrity and sovereignty of the nation. “Those running propaganda against the state over the internet will be dealt with strongly”, added Thakur in the remarks further, on the action.