The authorities has requested social media corporations to instantly remove any content on their platform which mentions or refers to the time period ‘Indian variant’ of coronavirus, in a bid to curb the unfold of misinformation round COVID-19.
Digital platforms stated they’ve obtained the most recent advisory.
On Friday, the IT ministry wrote to all social media platforms emphasizing that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has not related the time period “Indian Variant” with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its studies.
A discover issued on this regard by the IT ministry states {that a} “false statement” is being circulated on-line that means that an ‘Indian variant’ of coronavirus is spreading throughout the international locations.
The IT ministry stated the matter has already been clarified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on May 12, 2021, by way of a press assertion.
The social media platforms have been requested to “remove all the content that names, refers to, or implies ‘Indian variant’ of coronavirus from your platform immediately”.
Previously, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had issued advisories relating to curbing of false information/misinformation regarding coronavirus on social media platforms.
India is one of the most important markets for digital platforms like Google, Facebook, and Twitter.
As per knowledge cited by the federal government, just lately, the nation has 53 crore WhatsApp customers, 44.8 crore YouTube customers, 41 crore Facebook customers, whereas 21 crore use Instagram and 1.75 crore are on Twitter.
Earlier this yr, the federal government had launched tips to curb the misuse of social media platforms.
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