Unlock 5.0: Modi government providing free internet to all students, here's the truth

Social media have been flooded with misinformation and fake news ever since coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic hit India but we must not forget the fact that that not everything we read on the internet is true. 

Now, a post which claims the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre is providing free internet to students for online classes has gone viral on WhatsApp. 

According to the viral post, the government has decided to provide 10GB internet data to every student in the country in order to help the students prepare for their exams amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

Here is what the post reads: “Due to Corona Virus Schools and colleges have been closed and because of this, the education of students has been affected, so the government is providing free internet (10GB per day) to all the students. So that students can complete their education and also give exams with the help of the internet and online classes (sic).”

However, the government has not made any such announcement and the claim is fake. Debunking the fake news, PIB in a tweet wrote, ”It is claimed in a #WhatsApp message that government is providing free internet to all the students so that they can give online exams and complete their education amid #COVID19 pandemic.

#PIBFactCheck: This claim is #Fake. No such decision has been taken by the government.”

Claim: It is claimed in a #WhatsApp message that government is providing free internet to all the students so that they can give online exams and complete their education amid #COVID19 pandemic.#PIBFactCheck: This claim is #Fake. No such decision has been taken by government. pic.twitter.com/LYUCtLrVEW

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) October 6, 2020

The fact-checking arm of PIB was launched in December 2019 to curb misinformation and fake news prevalent on the internet.

It claimed that its objective was “to identify misinformation related to government’s policies and schemes that are circulating on various social media platforms”.