The press release on movement restriction for COVID-19 outbreak was issued by PMO-Malaysia, not PMO-India - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 19, 2020
Some photos of a press release regarding movement restriction for COVID-19 outbreak is being shared widely on social media with a claim that it was released by the National Security Council, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO – India). Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Press Release on movement restriction for COVID-19 outbreak by National Security Council, PMO (India).
Fact: The press release in the post was issued by the Malaysian Government, not by the Indian Government. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
In the Press Release, it can be seen that the helpline number is given as ‘03-8888 2010’. So, when searched for that number on Google, it was found in ‘The Star’ news article that the number was set up as a special hotline by the Malaysian Government ‘to address questions and complaints by the public on any issues relating to the movement control order, which was imposed due to the Covid-19 outbreak’. The same number can be also seen in a tweet by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry – Malaysia (‘MITI Malaysia’).
Warta membenarkan pengeluaran kilang2 penting utk disambung semula dengan kadar minimum adalah olh Kerajaan dan peranan kami adalah utk memproses permohonan.Sekiranya anda mempunyai sebarang pertanyaan atau aduan mengenai perkara ini bolehlah diajukan ketalian MKN di 03-8888 2010
The same press release can be also found on the PMO-Malaysia website. So, the press release was not issued by the Indian Government.
A lot of people are sharing the document on social media claiming that it was released by the Indian Government. If one looks at carefully, there are many clues in the document which suggest that it was not issued by the Indian Government. Some of those clues can be found in the picture below:
Also, the Press Information Bureau of India and Prasar Bharati News Services has tweeted that ‘no such Press Release has been issued by PMO-India’.
Claim: A Press Release regarding movement restriction is widely getting circulated on #WhatsApp claiming to be of Government of India.#PIBFactCheck: No such Press Release has been issued by @PMOIndia. pic.twitter.com/6CQOJUhSpG
To sum it up, the press release on movement restriction for the COVID-19 outbreak was issued by PMO-Malaysia, not PMO-India.
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