The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has prohibited the transmission of 15 channels since 2019, namely First India, Mahuaa, Mahuaa Movies, Mahuaa Music, Mahuaa News, Sada Channel, Media One Life, S. News, Sinema, Paras-City Pulse and Frontier TV for violationg the Uplinking/Downlinking guidelines 2011 and the programme code and advertising code under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The ministry has issued directions for blocking 56 YouTube-based news channels and their social media accounts for public access during 2021-2022 under The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. This was informed by Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Thakur responded to blocking content on the internet by saying that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) is empowered to issue directions for blocking of content for violation of Section 69 A of Information Technology Act, 2000. The number of URLs, consisting of web pages, websites, pages on social media accounts, etc., blocked by MeiTY under these provisions during the period 2014-2021 is 25,368.
The Ministry grants permission for operating a satellite TV channel under the Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines 2011. All TV channels are required to adhere to the Programme Code and the Advertising Code laid down under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. The channels need to follow the guidelines strictly.
