New Delhi: The Centre has asked social media companies to immediately take down any content from their platform that uses or refers to the term ‘Indian variant’ of coronavirus, seeking to curb misinformation around COVID-19. The IT Ministry has written to all social media platforms asserting that the World Health Organization (WHO) has not associated the term “Indian Variant” with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its reports.
The WHO had earlier that the coronavirus variant B.1.617 had classified it as a variant of global concern.
“This is completely FALSE. There is no such variant of Covid-19 scientifically cited as such by the World Health Organisation (WHO). WHO has not associated the term ‘Indian Variant’ with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its reports,” Reuters quoted from the letter, which has not been made public.
Reports that a notice has also been issued by the IT Ministry in this regard stating that a false statement is being circulated online that implies that an “Indian variant” of coronavirus is spreading across countries. The sources said the matter has already been clarified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on May 12 through a press release.
They added that social media platforms have been asked 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 regarding curbing false news/misinformation concerning coronavirus on social media platforms.
(With agency inputs)