Thiruvananthapuram: In an attempt to restrict social media activities, the Kerala government has barred government employees from running their own YouTube channels on the ground of service rule violation. The move is aimed at preventing the employees from earning additional income from YouTube channels.
An order in this regard was issued by the Additional Chief Secretary of the state Home department on February 3. According to the order, starting a YouTube channel is a violation of Kerala Government Employees Conduct Rules, 1960. The current rules do not allow granting permission for starting YouTube channels, it read.
The order came in response to an application that was submitted by the Fire Rescue Service seeking permission for artistic work on social media. The order was issued while denying permission to the Fire Rescue Service.
Nowadays, people manage to earn additional income by running YouTube channels. If at least 1,000 people subscribe to a YouTube channel and watch it for 4,000 hours in the last 12 months then the person who runs the channel is entitled to earn money.
As per the Kerala government, making money in this process is a violation of the service rules of government employees. Thus, the government has clarified that employees would not be allowed to start their own YouTube channel.
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In an attempt to clamp down on social media, the Centre has now imposed a ban on a total of 110 YouTube channels, of which six were banned last month for spreading fake news and misinformation. Along with this, 45 videos, four Facebook accounts, three Instagram accounts, five Twitter handles and six websites were also banned for the same.
