CEC meets social media heads over Model Code
| Date :20-Mar-2019 |
NEW DELHI,
CHIEF Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Tuesday met with heads and representatives of various social media platforms ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss various issues related to social media content in lieu of Model Code of Conduct which has been implemented in India since after the announcement of Lok Sabha Elections on March 10. The social media heads and representatives who attended the meeting included Mahima Kaul from Twitter, Piyush Poddar and Chetan Krishnaswamy from Google, Sasha Mathew from WhatsApp, Shivnath Thujral from Facebook, Chitrita Chatterjee from Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Berges Y. Malu from Share Chat , Apruva Mehta from Tiktok and Nagesh Banga from Bigo TV.
The meeting was also attended by Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Ashok Lavasa. President of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) Subho Roy was also present in the meeting. Earlier March 6, The Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology, Anurag Thakur had said that social media giants Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram have accepted that there is a need for corrective measures to keep a check on posts that lead to communal tensions, incite violence or pose threat to national security.
Thakur made these remarks after meeting with officials of Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram. Even prior to that, following concerns by various political parties, Thakur had allowed Colin Crowell, Vice President and Global Policy Head of Twitter to appear before the committee on February 6 and had directed the micro-blogging site to ensure no interference of foreign entities in Indian elections. As per new rules political parties and candidates won’t be able to post unverified advertisements, photographs of defence personnel, hate speeches and fake news on their accounts.