COVID-19 Online Censorship: What Is It & What Do We Do?

At a time when the Indian social media community is coming together to provide aid and relief to those in need of it, the country’s leaders continue to censor such efforts –– not only in terms of concealing evidence of mishandling the situation, but also erasing online content that largely criticises them.

The Internet Freedom Foundation on Instagram broke down the aspects that we must understand –– the Disaster Management Act does not hold the capacity to dictate the retraction of social media updates, especially not those that are only helping the citizens out.

The non-profit organisation further explains that the 50+ tweets and more URLs that were blocked were done so under section 69(a) of the IT Act –– it provides the government with the power to block the public from accessing certain information available through a computer resource.

This section’s current use by the government is a move that is not only unethical, but harmful to those who could, in all its truth, use the COVID-19 resources provided. At a time when we seem to be left stranded by those in power, only the community spirit to help each other out has been a life-saver.

The Internet Freedom Foundation urges people to continue using social media for COVID-19 relief , verify and fact check information before sharing it, and of course, demand accountability from the government for their actions.

Find the Internet Freedom Foundation’s entire guide here.

Note: The featured image is for representational purposes only.

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