The Indian government, specifically the Broadcasting and Ministry of Information Government has requested YouTube to remove three channels for spreading Fake News. The surprising part of this is that all these channel subscribers combined make up a huge number.
Here are the names of those channels released by the Press Information Bureau.
- Sarkari Updates
- Aaj Tak Live (This channel is not under the India Today Group)
- News Headlines
What Fake News Did These Three Channels Spread?
Starting off, these channels tried to scam and trick people by using common clickbait techniques. They used logos of news agencies and photos of popular anchors to trick people into thinking they were a legitimate channel.
The fake news topics were Electronic Machines for Voting, Schemes by the Government, the Supreme Court of India, Farm Loan Waivers, and the Chief Justice of India, etc. They also shared that the government is willing to pay for opening new bank accounts, PAN cards, and Aadhaar cards.
Their hunger for profit through YouTube Ads increased their false content-sharing speed. The grand total of 33 lakh subscribers from all three channels had a watch time that exceeds thousands of minutes. People got misled and misguided through these channels. There was no real passion or journalistic approach toward these channels. They only shared fake news to earn more day by day.
The step that the Indian government took against these channels is a well-appreciated effort to minimize the fake news in our country. If you see any social media channel trying to spread the news that is irrelevant and untrue, please take action against them.
You can report such channels on YouTube or the social media channel they are hosting on. Don’t step back from fulfilling your duty as a wise citizen of this country. Many people have suffered in lockdown when people used WhatsApp to spread numerous fake news.