IT Ministry asks YouTube to label fake news channels with 'unverified' disclaimer

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has asked Google-owned YouTube to initiate necessary legal measures against "fake news channels" and advised the platform to incorporate a disclaimer to address this issue effectively.

In a notification, MeitY advised YouTube to put a disclaimer "news not verified" on "fake news channels".

The IT Ministry has also asked major social media platforms with more than five million members to submit an action plan within 10 days, "on how they aim to combat fake news and unlawful content".

Earlier this month, YouTube responded to the IT Ministry’s notice to remove any kind of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or face stringent action, saying they have a “zero-tolerance policy” on CSAM and related content.

A YouTube spokesperson told IANS that no form of content that endangers minors is acceptable to them.

“We have heavily invested in the technology and teams to fight child sexual abuse and exploitation online and take swift to remove it as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said.

Encrypted messaging platform Telegram which was also asked to respond to the IT Ministry’s notice, said it is "always committed" to upholding legal and ethical standards on its platform, particularly in this case of addressing issues related to Child Pornography (CP), CSAM, and Rape and Gang Rape (RGR) content on the Indian internet.

In a statement, Telegram said that in response to reports of CP/CSAM/RGR content, it maintains a “zero-tolerance policy towards any unlawful activities conducted by users on our platform”.