New Delhi
The Central government is committed to freedom of speech and expression, Union Minister of State for Information L. Murugan said on Thursday, even as he justified action taken against several YouTube channels on grounds of national security. The Minister made the statement in the Rajya Sabha in response to a question accusing the government of suppressing media freedom. Attacking the Congress, Murugan said: "We are not in 1975." The reference was to the 1975-77 Emergency period imposed by the then Congress government. He informed the House that several channels operating from Pakistan were blocked because their contents were against the integrity and security of the country.
"Within two months, the government initiated action against 60 channels including YouTube operating from Pakistan. These channels were blocked because of 'anti-India' content." On January 21, the Indian government blocked 35 YouTube channels, two websites, two Twitter and Instagram accounts and a Facebook account based in Pakistan for spreading 'anti-India' content over the internet, almost a month after blocking 20 such channels in the video sharing platform. All these channels were blocked by the Centre using emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021.