JOIN USThe Election Commission has given itself a herculean and almost impossible task with its decision to extend the code of conduct for elections to internet and social media web sites.
It has decided to do this “in the interest of maintaining transparency and a level playing field during the polls’’. The principle that political parties, candidates, workers and supporters should undertake campaigns in the new media platforms which are as fair as on other forums is correct. They should also conform to the norms laid down for the purpose. Social media platforms will be used extensively by all parties in the coming elections to some state assemblies and the Lok Sabha elections later. The reach of these media is not very large but it is growing fast. Their constituency which till now consisted of the educated and articulate classes is expanding. Many leaders, including chief ministers and central ministers, are active in these sites and controversies have erupted over many postings. Activities there will form an important part of the election strategies.
One part of the EC directive, which makes the money spent on the use of social media for campaigning a part of the election expenditure of candidates, may be the easier part to enforce. Advertisements have to be pre-certified by the commission and parties and candidates have to give details of their social media accounts and the expenditure involved in their use will have to be accounted for. The content and expenditure will be monitored by the commission. Efforts to monitor and keep in check election spending by candidates have not produced the best results in the past. But attempts can be made to enforce them in the case of the new media also. However keeping track of content will be much more difficult.
This is because of the unregulated and even chaotic nature of the new media. A large number of sites like Wikipedia, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook and millions of blogs and microblogs will come under the purview of the order. Though it may be possible to track content posted by parties and candidates, it will be almost impossible to do so in the case of postings made by others. The commission is yet to find a way how to deal with them and is consulting the ministry of communications on the matter. The difficulty is compounded by the presence of retweets, likes, sharings and fake accounts. The practical problems are immense.