Govt decision to block 4 videos on YouTube channel 'Mr Reaction Wala' perplexing - Alt News
Archit
28th October 2022 / 7:16 pm
The ministry of information & broadcasting (MIB) on September 26 announced the blocking of 45 videos from 10 YouTube channels. The MIB said in a statement: “Based on the inputs from intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has directed YouTube to block 45 YouTube videos from 10 YouTube channels. Orders to block the concerned videos were issued on 23.09.2022 under the provisions of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.”
On going through the available content of the 10 channels, Alt News could see that there was an inherent bias in their selection. When it reached out to the channels, only two of them — Dhruv Rathee and Mr Reaction Wala (MRW) — cooperated with this correspondent. Of the two, Alt News could only access the four removed videos posted by MRW. Upon close analysis of the clips, the reasons for their removal were not apparent.
According to the ministry statement, the blocked content was found to be detrimental to the ‘sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, India’s friendly relations with foreign States, and public order in the country.’
सूचना प्रसारण मंत्रालय ने 10 यूट्यूब चैनलों को देश के खिलाफ जहर उगलने वाले, भ्रामक खबरों के माध्यम से मित्र देशों के साथ सम्बंधों को ख़राब करने का प्रयास करने के लिए प्रतिबंध लगा कर उन्हें सस्पेंड कर दिया है।
राष्ट्रहित में ये पहले भी किया है, आगे भी करेंगे।
| @MIB_India | pic.twitter.com/uIIpXvEUOw
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) September 26, 2022
The press note also stated three types of content categories under which the ban was exercised —
Alt News could not find any of the above reasons applicable to the four blocked videos of MRW. It also went through the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, based on which action was taken against the YouTube channel, but there also, Alt News couldn’t find anything that justified the blocking of the four videos in question.
To sum it up, Alt News found that none of the videos could be categorized under the three reasons listed in the September 26 press release by the ministry of information & broadcasting.
MRW, who prefers to be addressed by his YouTube handle, told Alt News, “I’m aware that some YouTube channels peddle fake news. However, I don’t feel that the four videos from my channel can be categorized as fake news. Nonetheless, at the moment, I have deleted them from the channel.”
When Alt News asked MRW what kind of content he made, he said, “My videos are not news reports. However, I do commentary on various events from Indian and other countries. Nonetheless, I ensure I am not misleading my audience in any way.”
Among the other channels, Gaurav Thakur from GetsetflyFACT uploaded a detailed video statement on the matter on his YouTube channel GetSetFly Fact. In the video, he explained that before he could make the necessary changes, the video was banned. Similarly, Rathee shared his views about the ban in an interview with Lalantop. Their videos had initially depicted the Indian map erroneously.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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