Cyber Vigilance: Information overload is the biggest issue in today’s world! Too much of information and different kinds of information on an issue is really confusing people and leading them to paths of destruction. With the access to Internet becoming simple and easy for all the people, the sources of information are too many. It is difficult to decipher which is correct and which is fake. This information overload is also leading to serious issues of national security, religious animosity and hatred among the people.
Cyber Vigilance
It is known fact that there is a need to have a self-decision on what we need to trust. With information overload taking a decision on following certain sources is turning into a difficult task. At the same time, it has turned into a nightmare for the government to keep a tab on the sources of information since it can be from anywhere!
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has ordered the blocking of 35 YouTube channels and two websites, which were running anti-India propaganda and spreading fake news “in a coordinated manner”.The ministry has also issued orders for blocking of two Twitter accounts, two Instagram accounts and one Facebook account involved in spreading “coordinated anti-India disinformation”.
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All these YouTube channels, websites and social media accounts were being operated from Pakistan to spread “anti-India fake news and other contents on sensitive subjects”. The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Secretary Apurva Chandra told, “We have used the provision of Section 69 A of the IT Act to block these channels under the emergency provisions, as their contents were totally toxic and against the sovereignty of India, sort of a war of misinformation against the country (India).”
Cyber Vigilance
To block Pakistan-based social media accounts and websites, five separate orders were issued under Rule 16 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 to the respective intermediaries, internet service providers and the department of telecommunication.
Chandra said Indian intelligence agencies were “closely monitoring” these social media accounts and the websites, and flagged them to the ministry for immediate action. The orders were issued on Thursday, he added.The 35 YouTube accounts, which were being operated from Pakistan, had a total subscriber base of over 1 crore 20 lakh and their videos had over 130 crore views, the I&B secretary said.
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