ECI directs ethical use of social media platforms by political parties and their representatives

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ECI issued these directions due to violations of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during Lok Sabha election campaigning by political parties.

Concerns related to misuse of Social Media in elections

Potential to sway voters’ opinions, erode trust in electioneering process by use of manipulated content on SMPs.
Misuse of AI-based tools to create deepfakes that distort information or propagate misinformation.

Political parties have been informed by ECI of existing legal provisions that govern regulatory framework against use of misinformation using deepfakes. This includes:
- Section 123(4) of Representation of People Act, 1951: It is a corrupt practice for a person to publish any false statement about a candidate's personal character, conduct, etc.
- MCC: Criticism of other parties should be limited to policies, past record and work and avoid criticism of private lives, etc.
- Section 505 of IPC: Publishing any statement or spreading rumours that incite animosity between social classes can result in imprisonment which may extend to three years.

Political parties have to remove deepfake audios/videos within 3 hours from SMPs; identify and warn party member responsible for posting it.
Report presence of any unlawful information and fake user account.

ECI is an autonomous and permanent constitutional authority.
It administers elections to Parliament, Legislature of every State and to offices of President and Vice-President of India.
It consists of Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. They have tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
Election Commission decides election schedule for both general elections and bye-elections.
Election Commission resolves disputes relating to splits/mergers of recognized political parties.