Disaster Management Act does not restrict citizens to post
updates on Covid-19
No, there isn't any
restriction on citizens to share news or updates about the situation arising
out of coronavirus pandemic as long as it is based on facts. A message along
with a video of a police officer is going viral on social media. The message
states that from midnight onwards (no date mentioned), the Disaster Management The act has been implemented across the country, as per which apart from government
departments, no other citizen is allowed to post any update or share any
forward related to the novel coronavirus.
It is a punishable offence so
admins are requested to inform their group members, the message reads.
With the message, a video of
a police officer is attached who can be heard saying that if a person posts
anything offensive, then the group admin will be responsible and will also face
legal action.
India Today's Anti Fake News
War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral message is misleading.
The central government on
March 24, the day when the 21-day lockdown was announced, had stated that the
Disaster Management Act, 2005 was being invoked to deal with Covid-19. See the
copy of order here.
As per the act, there is no
such provision which says that apart from government departments, no other
citizen is allowed to update or share news related to a disaster.
The viral message also
contains a video of a police officer who can be heard saying that if anyone
posts any offensive message, then the group admin will be held responsible.
This video is available on
the internet since July 13, 2018. Also, nowhere in the video, the police
officer talks about coronavirus. Hence, this is an unrelated video.
 |
| Disaster Management Act does not restrict citizens to post updates on Covid-19 |
The Supreme Court also passed
an order on March 31, that Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act can be
used to punish those who spread false information. Section 54 says that sharing
any update or forward whether on WhatsApp or any other social media platform,
which is "false", is a criminal offence.
It is clear that there is no
such restriction on citizens to share any news or updates about the coronavirus
situation, as long as it is not false information.
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