Action taken against 11K posts over ‘unlawful’ claims: Election Commission

Besides, as many as 3,23,099 complaints have been lodged using the C-Vigil App during these elections since March 15, when the schedule for the Assembly elections in four states and the union territory of Puducherry were announced.

Out of these, 3,10,393 or 96.01 per cent of the complaints were resolved within the stipulated time period of 100 minutes, the poll panel said.

The ECI has reiterated that all stakeholders will ensure responsible and ethical use of social media and digital platforms, in compliance with including the Information Technology Act, 2000, IT Rules, 2021 and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

It had also warned that any misleading or unlawful AI-generated or manipulated content shall be acted upon within three hours of being brought to notice of the social media platforms.

Social media content such as posts which are MCC violations, disrupt or which have the potential to disrupt law and order, false narratives against polling process or machinery are being monitored and acted upon by the state IT nodal office concerned, the poll panel said.

Since March 15, over 11,000 such social media posts/URLs have been identified and acted upon, including the removal of content, FIR, clarifications and rebuttals in the ongoing elections.

Parties, candidates and campaign representatives are required to ensure that any synthetically generated or AI-altered content used for campaigning is clearly labelled as “AI-generated”, “digitally enhanced” or “synthetic content”, along with disclosure of the originating entity, to maintain transparency and voter trust, the ECI further said.