A day after the Election Commission of India directed political parties for the responsible and ethical use of social media, it asked social media platform X to remove an allegedly objectionable post from the Karnataka BJP account after the party failed to do so.
The saffron party as well as the social media platform failed to take down the post despite a legally valid letter through the Karnataka chief electoral officer (CEO), including an FIR. In a letter to the nodal officer of X, the poll body said an FIR has already been registered in the matter and the site, through Bengaluru’s cyber crime division, was directed to take down the post on May 5. But, the post remained as part of the timeline, it said.
“I am directed to inform that post of ‘BJP4Karnataka’ (as mentioned below) is violative of extant legal framework… Therefore, ‘X’ is directed to take down the post immediately. This is issued with the approval of the competent authority,” read the letter signed by Anuj Chandak, joint director and nodal officer.
The post has now been removed. It included an animated video related to Muslim reservation in Kannada language and was posted by the Karnataka unit of the BJP on May 4. The Congress wrote to the EC against the video.
The EC’s action has come after the elections are almost over in Karnataka. The state had polling polls in two phases – 14 seats each in the second phase on April 26 and third phase on May 7.
According to sources, the EC wrote to X after both the social media platform and the party unit failed to remove the post despite the issue being raised by the poll body. It is also important to note that on Monday (May 6), the EC had written to all the national and state-recognised parties asking them for responsible and ethical use of social media to ensure a level-playing field for all stakeholders.
In a communication to the president, general secretary and chairperson of all political parties, the poll body reminded them that it has repeatedly given directions to maintain decorum and utmost restraint during public campaigning.
The EC also warned the parties against misuse of AI-based tools to create deepfakes that distort information or propagate misinformation, stressing on the need to uphold the integrity of the electoral process.
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