India Blocks YouTube Channels In First Deployment Of New IT Rules

India has invoked its emergency powers under the IT Act for the first time, ordering YouTube to block 20 channels and banning two websites.

Claiming that they were running anti-India content from Pakistan that affected the country’s sovereignty and integrity.

“The channels and websites belong to a coordinated disinformation network operating from Pakistan and spreading fake news about various sensitive subjects related to India,” says the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in a statement.

“The channels were used to post divisive content in a coordinated manner on topics like Kashmir, Indian Army, minority communities in India, Ram Mandir, General Bipin Rawat, etc.”

The ministry says that at least 15 of the channels were being run with the help of the Naya Pakistan Group (NPG), operating from Pakistan. They had neutral names such as Historical Facts and Go Global.

In total, says the ministry, these channels had a combined subscriber base of more than 3.5 million people, with a total readership of 500 million.

Article titles included ‘Modi Hitler Distribute Millions Of Dollars In Security Forces For Kashmir’s Genocide’ and articles claiming that the recent crash of a helicopter carrying top Indian general Bipin Rawat was the work of the Biden administration.

The move is the first time that India has invoked the powers of the recently-introdeuced IT Act.

“The Ministry has acted to secure the information space in India, and utilized emergency powers under the Rule 16 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021,” it says.

“The Ministry observed that Most of the content pertains to subjects sensitive from the perspective of national security and are factually incorrect, and are being mainly posted from Pakistan as a coordinated disinformation network (as in the case of Naya Pakistan Group) against India and thus deemed it fit for action under the provisions to block content in case of emergency.”

The new rules were introduced earlier this year, to the alarm of human rights activists. They not only give the government powers to remove ‘objectionable’ online content, but also remove the right to privacy on social media and encrypted messaging apps.

This summer, the United Nations Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (UNHRC) called for the rules to be reviewed.

“As noted in previous communications sent to your Excellency’s Government, we are concerned that these new rules come at a time of a global pandemic and of large-scale farmer protests in the country, where the enjoyment of the freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to receive information, and the right to privacy, is particularly important for the realisation of several other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights,” it said in a report.

“We would like to recall that restrictions to freedom of expression must never be invoked as a justification for the muzzling of any advocacy of multiparty democracy, democratic tenets and human rights.”