The Election Commission’s coordination with social media groups for taking action against fake news and contents violating poll rules has so far resulted in the removal of 628 online posts. Since the Model Code of Conduct came into force, 574 Facebook posts have been taken off for various reasons. In all, 468 political posts were detected during the silence period as provided under the Representation of the People Act and deleted from Facebook. In addition to that, 60 political advertisements circulating on the social media platform during the period were also taken down.
Ten Facebook posts spreading voter-related misinformation were identified, 28 violated public morality and decency and six posts pertained to hate speeches/undue influence on voters. Two contents were found to be violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
On Twitter, eight political messages being circulated during the silence period, 34 violating the MCC, five spreading misinformation related to the elections and two tweets involving hate speech/undue influence were detected and swiftly removed.
Google also removed one political post during the silence period and another relating to hate speech/undue influence. Three messages, including two spreading hatred and one violating the MCC, were deleted by WhatsApp.
The Commission had earlier held meetings with senior representatives of the social media platforms and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) to develop a mechanism against online contents aimed at influencing the poll process.
Accordingly, IAMAI and the platforms formulated a voluntary code of ethics. They decided to set up a dedicated grievance reporting channel, pre-certify political advertisements and ensure transparency in expenditure on such advertisements. Nodal officials have also been appointed for a smooth communication with the EC.