Silence please! FB to cooperate with EC, offers to pull down campaign-related posts 48 hours before polls

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Silence please! FB to cooperate with EC, offers to pull down campaign-related posts 48 hours before polls

  • Facebook has recently offered to pull down all campaign-related posts during the ‘Silence Period’.
  • After Facebook’s offer to curb this deviance, the 14-member committee set up by the Election Commission (EC) is planning to speak to other social media which could potentially be used for campaigning too.
  • The committee has been constituted to suggest changes to the RPA, model code and to study the impact of social and new media during the “silence period”.
Facebook has recently offered to pull down all campaign-related posts 48 hours prior to the elections in India, according to TOI. The offer was placed before a committee that was set up by the Election Commission (EC) of India to review section 126 of the Representation of People Act (RPA) which imposes the norm of the ‘Silence Period’.
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According to the rule, the parties contesting for the elections are required to stop their campaign 48 hours prior to end of polling in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. With the advent of social media, the political parties are often seen dodging this rule by using the net instead of campaigns ‘in real life’, to circulate their slogans.

After Facebook’s offer to curb this deviance, the committee is planning to speak to other social medias which could potentially be used for the same purpose. These include Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp. The committee wants to explore the possibility of taking the social media’s help to block or restrain sharing and uploading of campaign-related posts/videos during the silence period. These discussions and arrangements are being held for the general elections that are to be held in April or May next to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha.

The 14-member committee was constituted on 8 January this year and it has already suggested changes to the RPA and the model code that is to be followed during the elections.
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