Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) on Thursday busted six YouTube channels for acting in a coordinated manner and spreading misinformation about the government, elections, Supreme Court and proceedings of Parliament, President and Prime Minister of India. These channels have 2 million subscribers and their videos have been viewed more than 510 million times, the release said. Last December, the Center flagged three channels for spreading fake news. In an official statement, the Fact Check Unit of Press Information Bureau (PIB) fact checked six channels on YouTube namely Nation TV, Samvad TV, Sarokar Bharat, Nation 24, Swarnim Bharat and Samvad news channels which turned out to be fake.
Busted channels part of fake news economy; have a combined following of over 20 lakhs
Channels using clickbait thumbnails to peddle fake news pertaining to President, Prime Minister, Union Ministers, and Election Commission
Details: https://t.co/vwYZ5QUWQ1
2/2 pic.twitter.com/UhT7vKIrtR
— PIB India (@PIB_India) January 12, 2023
The video has been viewed over 51 crore times
Thumbnails and pictures of television news anchors to assure viewers that the news they shared was authentic. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in an official release that these YouTube channels are part of a fake news economy that thrives on monetization of fake news.
issued six separate Twitter threads
The Fact Check Unit of PIB released six separate Twitter threads containing over 100 fact checks to counter the fake news being spread by these channels. This is the second such crackdown by the unit under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting where entire channels have been busted.
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For example, handle PIBFactCheck tweeted about Samvad TV, a YouTube channel with over 1 million subscribers, that is propagating #FakeNews about the Government of India and making false claims about the statements of Union Ministers.