Singapore invokes anti misinformation law after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s tweet on ‘new COVID-19 variant’

Singapore government has invoked its anti misinformation law, the POFMA or Protection from Online Falsehoods & Manipulation Act a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted about the coronavirus variant from Singapore.

New Delhi: Singapore government has invoked its anti misinformation law, the POFMA or Protection from Online Falsehoods & Manipulation Act a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted about the coronavirus variant from Singapore. The country's health ministry has instructed the POFMA office to issue "General Correction Directions" to Facebook, Twitter. The notice is not directed at Delhi CM or Indian social media but aims at safeguarding Singaporeans from false information. Under this, the social media giants will be required to carry a "Correction Notice to all end-users in Singapore" who use the app that "there is no new ‘Singapore’ variant of COVID-19. Neither is there evidence of any COVID-19 variant that is extremely dangerous for kids." Correction Notice reveals the "fact of the case" by pointing out that "there is a false statement circulating online" which "implies that a new, previously unknown variant of COVID-19 originated in Singapore and/or risks spreading to India from Singapore."  The notice clarifies that "the strain that is prevalent in many of the COVID-19 cases detected in Singapore in recent weeks is the B.1.617.2 variant, which originated from India."