New Delhi, March 21: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on Saturday issued an advisory asking all social media platforms to curb the spread of fake news and misinformation related to coronavirus. The directive states that all social media companies must adhere to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) of 2011, which makes it imperative upon them to warn their users against the dissemination of false news and misinformation. Catch all the live updates related to coronavirus outbreak in India and other parts of the world.

Since the outbreak of coronavirus, a spree of misinformation has gripped the internet - particularly social media platforms - in all parts of the world. Several governments are taking interventionary measures to prevent the circulation of false news, as it is leading to panic and may drive the populace into a state of frenzy if left unchecked. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also partnered with Google to check the circulation of information on the search engine related to coronavirus.

See Advisory Issued by the Indian IT Ministry

The social media platforms are required, as per the advisory, to immediately remove content hosted on their sites which falls under the category of fake news. The action must be taken on "priority basis", added the directive issued by the Government of India. It further asked the companies to promote the dissemination of authentic news and information related to the coronavirus outbreak.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed the nation to not to pay heed to rumours. While reiterating that the nation must take the COVID-19 outbreak "seriously", he added that there is no need to go into a state of panic. In his special address to the nation on Thursday, Modi warned against panic buying, saying there is no shortage of food or other essential items.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 21, 2020 04:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).