The government says that since WHO nomenclature doesn't use 'Indian variant', use of the term is tantamount to spreading 'false news/misinformation' about coronavirus.
4 hours ago
The government of India, in a May 7 advisory told social media companies to curb misinformation and fake news, and content that “that may affect public order and [be] unlawful in any way”. The advisory, a copy of which MediaNama has obtained in full via Right To Information request, and is published below, tells social media companies to warn users to not spread misinformation, and to “
[i]ssue warning to imposters who misuse your platform and indulge in such fraudulent activities.” Word of the advisory was first broken by the Economic Times.
Going beyond the IT Rules
“Social media platforms are intermediaries as defined under section 2(1)(w) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and are required to follow due diligence as prescribed in the