#TelanganaElections: Social media to be monitored for poll code violations
What's the story
Social media posts of political parties and groups in poll-bound Telangana will come under the Election Commission's scanner to check for any objectionable content under the Model Code of Conduct, state Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar has said. An agency had been appointed to help the CEO on social media issues, he said. Assembly elections are scheduled to be held on December 7.
Assurance
Google, Facebook assured cooperation in violation cases of MCC
The EC at the national and state level is in touch with companies such as Google and Facebook, which have assured cooperation in cases of violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC), Kumar said. "We're working out the matrix right now on how to control social media (content violative of MCC)... we will put some keywords which indicate violation of MCC," Kumar added.
Similar guidelines
Guidelines for social-media is exactly similar to print, electronic media
Kumar said Telangana Director General of Police Mahendar Reddy has also offered help of Cyber wing in taking action in cases of violation of code. "The source will be identified and action will be taken against him under relevant sections of IPC and cyber crimes also," he said. The guidelines for social media are exactly the same as that of print and electronic media.
Facebook page
Facebook page will be created to reach out to voters
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said they'll keep an eye on bulk messaging sent through social media with a malafide intention. Besides monitoring, a Facebook page under the name of Chief Electoral Officer Telangana has been created to update news and initiatives by EC to reach out to voters. The page had already clocked over 9.70L views as of October 11, Kumar said.