By Aihik Sur and Nikhil Pahwa
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has asked social media platforms to take down any content that refers to the term ‘Indian variant of Coronavirus’, Reuters reported yesterday. MediaNama has seen a copy of the letter.
The letter, sent on Friday the 21st of May 2021, signed by Rakesh Maheshwari, Group Coordinator (cyber laws and e-security) in MEITY, said, “It has come to our knowledge that a false statement is being circulated online which implies that an Indian variant’ of corona virus is spreading across the countries. 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.
April 30, 2021
We missed this earlier: While invoking powers under Sec 144, the Jabalpur district administration has imposed curbs on Covid-19 related posts that are ‘objectionable, inciting and gory’ on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for two months.
On April 27, the office of the District Magistrate issued an order signed by Jabalpur district collector Karamveer Sharma saying, “It has been reported by the Superintendent of Police Jabalpur.. that social media websites like WhatsApp, Facebook, is currently being used by anti-social elements of the district to spread misinformation, fake news regarding Covid-19. Efforts are being to create and atmosphere of fear in general public by this.”
Facebook that had blocked posts tagging #ResignModi, restored them. The social media giant said that it barred the hashtag by mistake and not on the behest of the government
After advanced search feature, Twitter rolls out fact pages, SOS lists to look for Covid resources
Twitter notes that the SOS resources page will surface information from those offering or seeking immediate help. Users looking for access to hospital beds, oxygen, and food can visit this page which gets updated in real-time as people put out their emergency Tweets.
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(Picture: Twitter)
HIGHLIGHTS
As people turn to Twitter to seek help and post information, the micro-blogging site has now also rolled out more tools like SOS lists, prompts, fact pages and a live page.
Twitter notes that the SOS resources page will surface information from those offering or seeking immediate help.
https://www.afinalwarning.com/514880.html (Natural News) Lawmakers and human rights activists in India on Monday, April 26, slammed Twitter’s decision to remove dozens of tweets seen to be critical of the Indian government’s handling of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Twitter, which has about 17.5 million users in India, removed 52 tweets after a legal request by the Indian government on Friday, April 23. These included tweets from a sitting member of India’s Parliament, two filmmakers, an actor and a West Bengal state minister.
Twitter says it notified the account owners of the censored tweets to make them aware that the action was taken in response to a legal request from the government of India.