Remove Content Referring to 'Indian Variant' of Coronavirus: Govt to Social Media The IT ministry has asked social media companies to stop referring to the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus as the 'Indian Variant'. Photo: PTI Health6 hours ago New Delhi:Â The government has asked social media companies to immediately remove any content from their platform that uses or refers to the term ‘Indian variant’ of coronavirus, to curb misinformation around COVID-19, sources said Friday. According to sources, 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.