A new Code of Ethics was written, on the 21st of March, stating there would be no social media campaigns held 48 hours prior to the Lok Sabha elections.
The move came after a meeting was held between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the representatives of seven social media platforms on the 20th of March. The first of its kind, this Code was prepared as a joint project between the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and the social media platforms.
According to the newly created Code of Ethics, there will be no political campaigns held on any social media platform 48 hours prior to the polls. “The code of ethics has been developed as a follow up to yesterday’s meeting with the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and representatives of social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Google, ShareChat and TikTok etc. The platforms have committed to process any violations reported under Section 126 of the RP (Representation of the People) Act, 1951, within three hours as per the Sinha Committee’s recommendations,” ECI said in a statement regarding the Code.
Furthermore, Section 126 of the Act has a clause, the election silence. According to this Section, any kind of conversations or promotions about the elections on social media, 48 hours before the elections, are strictly prohibited. Furthermore, as per the rules of the Code, social media platforms are expected to take action against those who violate any part of the order.
An excerpt from the code reads, “The purpose of this voluntary Code is to identify the measures that Participants can put in place to increase confidence in the electoral process. This is to help safeguard the products and/ or services of the Participants against misuse to vitiate the free and fair character of the 2019 General Elections in India.” This Code is the first of its kind ever to be written. With complete transparency and fair play written in the rules, this initiative is going to be put into place to ensure clean and effective elections this year.
The Lok Sabha elections are going to be conducted in 7 phases, between the 11th of April and the 19th of May.
With the major contenders being the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,) the voters are going to be left with a tough choice. The results of the Lok Sabha elections are going to be declared on the 23rd of May 2019.
Stay tuned for further updates.
