The government on Wednesday asked YouTube to remove three channels for making false and sensational claims about various public welfare initiatives and spreading fake news. The three channels were declared fake news peddlers by the Press Information Bureau’s Fact-Checking Unit on Tuesday.
“The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has directed YouTube to remove the three channels Aaj Tak Live, News Headlines and Sarkari Updates,” an official source said on Wednesday. Aaj Tak Live is not associated with India Today Group, the government clarified.
Channels were using thumbnails and images of TV channels and their anchors to mislead viewers into believing that the news shared by them was genuine, an official statement said on Tuesday. “These channels were also found to be showing ads on their videos and monetizing misinformation on YouTube,” he said.
The Fact Check unit of the Press Information Bureau said these YouTube channels spread false and sensational claims about the Supreme Court of India, the 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 and PAN cards.
All three YouTube channels have around 33 thousand subscribers and their videos have been viewed more than 30 million times.
(with input from PTI)
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