Govt Directs Social Media Platforms To Remove All Content That Refers B.1.617 As 'Indian Variant'

India’s Information Technology (IT) ministry in a letter to social media firms emphasised that the WHO has not associated the term "Indian Variant" with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its reports.

Covid-19 Crisis in India

New Delhi: Amid several controversies over referring a Covid variant with names of countries, the Government of India has issued an advisory to all social media platforms, asking them to take down any content that refers to an “Indian variant” of the coronavirus.

According to a letter issued by India’s Information Technology (IT) ministry on Friday, the government has asked the companies to “remove all the content” that names or implies “Indian variant” of the coronavirus.

The ministry in the letter emphasised that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has not associated the term "Indian Variant" with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its reports.

"This is completely FALSE. There is no such variant of Covid-19 scientifically cited as such by the World Health Organisation (WHO). WHO has not associated the term ‘Indian Variant’ with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its reports," the letter stated, as quoted by Reuters.

Earlier this month, the WHO said that coronavirus variant B.1.617, first identified in India last year was being classified as a variant of global concern. A day later, the Indian government issued statement that media reports using the term “Indian Variant” were without any basis.

The controversy surrounding the labelling of Covid variants heated up when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal posted a tweet referring B.1.617.2 strain of Covivd-19 as "Singapore variant"