New Media: An Emerging Challenge for Election Commission?


BANGALORE: Social media has indeed influenced politics and elections in this ongoing Lok Sabha polls, making Facebook and Twitter users the nation’s newest voting blog, a new study suggests. In most of the urbanizing constituencies, social-media usage is now increasingly widespread to influence the outcome of a general election, the study by IRIS Knowledge Foundation and supported by the Internet and Mobile Association of India indicates.
However, this new form of media though proves effective for the masses, it unfortunately emerges as a biggest challenge for the Election Commission to cope up with the controversies regarding the model code of conduct, reports Hindustan Times.

Earlier the EC has issued detailed guidelines for political activities on such platforms. Despite this, there is not a single day when one or the other political parties have not alleged a violation of the model code of conduct, making the EC’s job hectic.

Director in EC, Dhirender Ojha, while addressing a workshop on media’s role in the electoral process said, “We have told the social networking sites to take pre-certification from Media Certification and Monitoring Committees at district and State levels,” reported CNN IBN.

Already, the EC is tasked with employing a number of officials to carry out various jobs related to elections like registering voters, handing out voter slips, transporting the electronic voting machines, carrying supplies of permanent ink and also attending to constant complaints. Adding to these, the EC is facing many problems incurred by the massive use of new media.

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