New Delhi: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday said the government blocked 94 YouTube channels, 19 social media accounts and 747 uniform resource locators (URLs) during 2021-22 for spreading fake news.
Responding to a question in Rajya Sabha, Thakur said these actions have been taken under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000.
The minister said that the government has strictly acted against agencies that spread fake news and propaganda on the internet.
Thakur said in order to check the spread of COVID-19-related fake news, a dedicated cell of the fact-checking unit of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) was created on March 31, 2020 for authentic information.
The unit has responded to 34,125 actionable queries, Thakur said.
