Tl;dr
Arrests are being made for spreading fake news under the Epidemic Diseases Act which due to its vague phrasing gives wide powers to the government. We give a background on the Act and its provisions and how in times of increased government power it has led to more than 500 cases being lodged under it. We have also written to the Union Home Ministry to urgently issue an advisory to State Governments with a draft SOP, to tackle the menace of COVID-19 related disinformation without resorting to overzealous criminal prosecutions.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/we-wrote-the-hmo-to-urge-them-to-issue-an-advisory-on-arrests-for-social-media-use-under-the-epidemic-diseases-act/