Lok Sabha Polls 2019: EC Summons Twitter, FB, WhatsApp; Warns Against Platform Misuse, Demands Accountability

The Election Commission of India (EC) has summoned the country heads of six social media companies, reports Inc42. The representatives of Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Google, Sharechat and TikTok will reportedly meet the EC on Tuesday (19 March).

According to the report, the meeting will have a six-point agenda that includes evolving a mechanism by social media platforms to prevent abuse of their fora.

The poll panel will also discuss the pre-certification of all political advertisements on social media platforms its media certification and monitoring committee (MCMC).

Besides, the EC wants the social media companies to voluntarily inform, educate and communicate to their users about unlawful conduct during elections and in particular during the prohibited period of 48 hours.

The election body also wants the social media companies to adopt a general code of ethics.

As per the report, a parliamentary committee had earlier summoned the social media giants where they were told that they cannot operate like news media without accountability.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections will start on 11 April and continue till 19 May, with vote count scheduled for May 23.