A YouTube channel by the name of ‘News Headlines’ has been at the helm of a concerted disinformation campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP government at the Centre as well as other states.
Started in 2018, the channel now boasts of a whopping 9.68 lakh subscribers. ‘News Headlines’ has a lifetime view count of 31,80,16,579 (31.8 crores). It has been infamous for posting fake news on a regular basis.
The channel primarily relies on exaggeration, sensationalism and clickbait headlines to draw the attention of anti-Modi propagandists and BJP haters.
On Tuesday (October 20), the Press Information Bureau (an agency under I&B Ministry that provides information about government policies and initiatives) exposed how ‘News Headlines’ had been running a disinformation campaign. Besides fake news about the BJP, the Youtube channel also targets the Judiciary and attributes misleading claims to it.
“A #YouTube channel ‘News Headlines’ with almost 10 lakh subscribers and 32 crore views has been found to be propagating #FakeNews about the Prime Minister, Supreme Court of India, Chief Justice of India, and the Election Commission of India,” PIB tweeted.
A #YouTube channel ‘News Headlines’ with almost 10 lakh subscribers and 32 crore views has been found to be propagating #FakeNews about the Prime Minister, Supreme Court of India, Chief Justice of India, and the Election Commission of India pic.twitter.com/9qUR7xqBd9
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) December 20, 2022
In one of its contentious videos, dating back to May 16 last year, the Youtube channel claimed that PM Modi had tendered his resignation and ‘President Rule’ was imposed in India.
“Modi has handed over his responsibilities to the President; President rule in effect in the country,” read the misleading headline of the video. “Will PM Modi now become President?,” it had also claimed.
𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) December 20, 2022
▪️ The Prime Minister of India has resigned
▪️ President Rule has been imposed in the country.
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭
✔️ This claim is #Fake.
✔️ Kindly refrain from sharing & interacting with such misleading videos.
#PIBFactCheck pic.twitter.com/qE8qOar7Xr
“The Youtube channel ‘News Headlines’ is claiming that according to the orders of the Chief Justice of India, EVMs are not to be used in elections. This claim is fake,” noted the Twitter handle of PIB.
The #Youtube channel ‘’News Headlines’ is claiming that according to the orders of the Chief Justice of India, EVMs are not to be used in elections.
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) December 20, 2022
#PIBFactCheck
▶️ This claim is #Fake. pic.twitter.com/rBC7DiKklE
Several other misleading claims were also attributed to former CJI N. V. Ramana.
One video of the channel ‘News Headlines’ claims that the Chief Justice of India has declared the Prime Minister of India as being guilty of sedition.
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) December 20, 2022
#PIBFactCheck
▶️ This claim is #Fake. pic.twitter.com/5y7m7iN04G
It is being claimed in a #Youtube video that the Chief Justice of India has taken action against the Prime Minister of India.
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) December 20, 2022
#PIBFactCheck
▶️ This claim is #Fake. pic.twitter.com/LmNq3V3GUc
In one instance, ‘News Headlines’ also claimed that Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had also resigned from his post.
The #Youtube channel is falsely claiming that the Minister of Road Transport and Highways has resigned.
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) December 20, 2022
#PIBFactcheck
▶️ This claim is #Fake.
▶️ Kindly do not rely on such videos for authentic information pic.twitter.com/LutnErTn5g
Opindia also found the YouTube channel, making false claims, about the resignation of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the supposed return of the Congress party in the State.
It must be mentioned that the Government of India routinely acts against YouTube channels, peddling disinformation with the ulterior motive of creating political instability and societal unrest.
In September this year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting informed that it had blocked as many as 45 videos on YouTube from across 10 different YouTube channels under IT Rules, 2021.
In August 2022, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting blocked 7 Indian and 1 Pakistan-based YouTube channel. The channels were blocked for airing fake anti-India content and earning money from it.
While the Government of India had been cracking down on fake news peddlers, the so-called ‘fact checkers’ such as Boom Live, and Alt News, who even ‘fact-check’ memes, have never quite bothered to bust these fake news.
