The Department of Telecom is not giving free internet to all users till amid the coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown, clarified the Fact Check Unit of Press Information Bureau on Wednesday in a tweet. The fake information in circulation has claimed that free internet is being provided to all by the department to enable them to work from home, and can be availed by clicking on a given link. PIB Fact Check has clarified that the claim is false and the link is fraudulent.
In the meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has clarified that reports claiming penal action against company directors and management if their employees test positive for COVID-19 are false. The guidelines instead prescribe penalties if the offence occurs with consent, cognisance or negligence of an employer.
In another counter, PIB Fact Check has re-iterated its clarification that the Ministry of Tourism has not issued any letter asking for hotels to be closed till October 15, due to coronavirus outbreak.
Assam regional unit of PIB has pointed out that ICMR is not contemplating a study on the immunity of indigenous Assamese people. The tweet is a fact check response to another tweet which has claimed that indigenous Assamese people have not contracted COVID-19 because of immunity and this has prompted ICMR to study the genetics of such people.
In order to check the spread of fake news on social media and following observations of the Supreme Court, PIB set up a dedicated unit to bust rumours getting viral on social media. ‘PIBFactCheck’ is a verified handle on Twitter that continuously monitors trending messages on social media platforms and conducts a comprehensive review of its contents to bust fake news.
Besides, PIB_India handle and various PIB regional unit handles on Twitter are posting an official and authentic version of any item on Twitter using the hashtag #PIBFactCheck for the benefit of the Twitter community at large. Any person can submit to PIBFactCheck any social media message, including text, audio and video, to verification of its authenticity.
