Fact Check: Is sharing messages about Coronavirus illegal under Disaster Management Act?

Coronavirus pandemic is one of the biggest threats faced globally in modern times. The pandemic has resulted in over 859 thousand cases with has claimed over 43 thousand lives to date. This has created an atmosphere of paranoia and confusion amidst people and has also forced them to stay under self-isolation in order to curb the spread of the Coronavirus. Amidst the 21-day lockdown in India, various WhatsApp forwards are spreading fake news which has evidently increased the strain on common people to some extent. 

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Claim:

Recent forwards on WhatsApp and other social media platforms are claiming that under the Disaster Management Act of India, sharing any messages about the Coronavirus outbreak is illegal. The forwards claim that any information about the Coronavirus outbreak cannot be shared by citizens who use WhatsApp and other social media platforms. The claims suggest furthermore that sharing any information about the outbreak is now a punishable offence. 

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Rating: Mixture

What is true? 

• The Government of India has indeed invoked the Disaster Management Act. 
• Section 6 (2) (i) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 has been implemented in India which restricts the movement of people outside their homes. This was implemented in order to limit the spreading of the Coronavirus outbreak. 

What is false?

• The Disaster Management Act does not impose any restrictions on people from sharing messages about any certain subject. 
• But, sending fake messages about the Coronavirus outbreak can land a person in serious trouble. A number of cases have been booked already for people sharing fake news about the outbreak. 

Supreme Court's scathing assessment of role of fake news amid the lockdown

On Tuesday, while it was passing detailed directions to the Centre on steps that need to be taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the Supreme Court was scathing in its assessment of the role of fake news amid the lockdown. CJI Bobde told the Center that something had to be done to prevent the spread of misinformation via various media, and asked if the government was taking action using the provisions of law that can be applied in this regard. It attributed the migration of workers to various parts of India to this kind of fake news.

Origin:  

A surge in the spreading of fake news has been occurring ever since the Coronavirus outbreak has taken over India. Similarly, the messages in question were shared on WhatsApp first. The WhatsApp messenger platform has evidently become an easy way for people to share fake messages as various rumours are originated from there. 

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Google Trends analysis: 

Fake news about the disaster management act stopping people from sending messages about the Coronavirus outbreak started surfacing around. This resulted in a number of people searching for the disaster management act on Google. Check it out below: 

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