The Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Tuesday flagged three YouTube channels for “spreading fake news” about the government, its schemes, election commission, Supreme Court, and even Prime Minister. The YouTube channels – News Headlines, Sarkari Update, and Aaj Tak Live – have nearly 33 lakh subscribers and over 30 crore cumulative views to their videos, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting said in a statement. Through a string of 40 tweets on Tuesday morning, the 'fact check' team of the PIB posted screenshots of videos run by the said YouTube channels, almost all of which were found to be false, it said. Government of India strikes den of misinformation on YouTube 💠@PIBFactCheck exposes 3 YouTube channels spreading fake news 💠YouTube channels fact-checked by PIB had nearly 33 lakh subscribers, over 30 crore views Read here: 1/2 pic.twitter.com/YpCYUt91GF — PIB India (@PIB_India) December 20, 2022 News Headlines has 9.67 lakh subscribers, while Sarkari Update and Aaj Tak Live have 22.6 lakh and 65,000, respectively, it said. This is the first time when the PIB identified YouTube channels for spreading false news. Among the examples of fake news the PIB cited were videos claiming that the Supreme Court has ruled that future elections will be conducted through ballot papers and that government was giving money to people who have bank accounts, Aadhaar and PAN. “The YouTube channels were observed to be using fake and sensational thumbnails with logos of TV channels and images of their news anchors to mislead the viewers to believe that the news was authentic,” the statement said, adding that these channels were also found to be displaying advertisements on their videos, thus monetising misinformation. In the past one year, the ministry has blocked over a hundred YouTube channels for posting content that had “potential to create communal disharmony and disturb public order in the country” by invoking emergency powers under the IT Rules-2021. However, official sources said the three YouTube channels ‘busted' on Tuesday haven’t been blocked yet because the content didn't meet conditions to invoke emergency powers.
