Desk Report
Publish: 22 May 2021, 07:15 pm
India's government tells social media firms to take down 'Indian variant' posts.
India's government has ordered social media platforms to
take down content that refers to the "Indian variant" of the
coronavirus, reports AFP.
The B.1.617 variant was first detected in India last year
and has been blamed for much of a devastating Covid-19 wave that has battered
South Asian nations in recent weeks.
It has spread to Britain and at least 43 other countries,
where "Indian variant" has become a widely used term.
The government order, sent Friday by the electronics and
information technology ministry, highlighted government sensitivity to
accusations that it has mishandled the new surge.
In it, the ministry told social media companies to
"remove all the content" that refers to the "Indian
variant".
"It has come to our knowledge that a false statement is
being circulated online which implies that an 'Indian variant' of coronavirus
is spreading across the countries. This is completely FALSE," read the
letter, obtained by AFP.
The ministry cited previous calls to curb "false news
and misinformation" about the pandemic on social media as a basis for the
order.
It argued that the World Health Organization did not link
any country to the B.1.617 variant.
The WHO declared the strain a "global concern"
last week as it spread around the world.
Several countries have banned or put severe restrictions on
passengers from India since the variant emerged.
Many health experts and governments have used country names
to describe new coronavirus variants that have emerged in Britain, Brazil and
South Africa.
Indian government officials have regularly used the term
"UK variant" since the mutant British strain started spreading in
India.
The right-wing government has been criticised for its
efforts to contain the new pandemic wave. India has faced severe shortages of
oxygen, vaccines, hospital beds and life-saving drugs.
The government last month ordered Twitter and Facebook to
remove dozens of posts critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's handling of
the crisis.
India on Saturday reported another 257,000 cases and 4,194
deaths in 24 hours, taking its total to 26.2 million infections and 295,525
deaths.
Almost half of the deaths have been noted since late March
when the new surge started battering the nation of 1.3 billion people.
The capital, New Delhi, meanwhile stopped vaccine jabs for
people aged under 45 because it has run out of shots.
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Topic : Indian variant Online Platforms
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