It is not only the govt that can post on COVID-19, but fake news by you can land you in jail

New Delhi, Apr 02: Starting midnight no citizen is allowed to post any message relating to coronavirus. The message has surfaced again and it says that this is a directive issued under the Disaster Management Act.

Only the government can post messages on coronavirus and group admins are requested to the post the update and inform the groups.

There is clearly no such directive from the government. The only directive is not to post fake news.

In this context let us examine what the Disaster Management Act of 2005 has to say. Under Section 52 of the Act, whoever knowingly makes a claim which he knows or has reason to believe to be false for obtaining any relief, assistance, repair, reconstruction or other benefits, he or she shall be punished with a jail term of two years and also a fine.

Section 54 says whoever makes or circulates a false alarm or warning as to disaster or its severity or magnitude, leading to panic, he or she upon conviction shall be imprisoned for one year and will have to pay a fine.