New Delhi: The government on Tuesday summoned three YouTube channels for making false and sensational claims about its various initiatives and spreading fake news.
An official statement said three fake YouTube channels – News Headlines, Sarkari Update and Aaj Tak Live – were using thumbnails and images of TV news channels and their news anchors to mislead viewers into believing that the news shared by them was genuine.
“These channels were also found to be showing ads in their videos and monetizing misinformation on YouTube,” he said.
The Press Information Bureau’s Data Verification Unit said these YouTube channels spread false and sensational claims about the Supreme Court of India, Chief Justice of India, government schemes, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and farm loan waivers.
They also made claims about the government giving money to people who have opened bank accounts, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards.
The three YouTube channels together have almost 33 thousand subscribers and their videos have been viewed more than 30 million times.
The action by the PIB Fact Check Unit follows the blocking of more than a hundred YouTube channels by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the past year.