The Election Commission of India has issued directives to political parties and candidates in Kerala, restricting the publication of print advertisements on the eve and day of the Assembly elections without prior certification.
The Election Commission has warned against the use of bulk SMSes and audio messages during the 48-hour 'silence period' before the conclusion of voting in the Bihar assembly polls. The EC has also mandated pre-certification of political advertisements on electronic media, including social media.
The Election Commission will for the first time keep a watch on the spending on social media by the political parties in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
In the advisory to political parties, the poll authority also emphasised on "clean and serious" campaign as electioneering reached feverish pitch in the southern state.
Monitoring of paid news will be a thrust area in the upcoming assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, with the Election Commission issuing fresh directions to poll officials in the two states to act swiftly against defaulters.
The EC said any political content has to be permitted by the local media certification committee
With political parties using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook in a big way for campaigning in Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission has issued detailed guidelines for political advertisements on such platforms that include obtaining certification for contents before putting them in public domain.
The poll body had on Thursday said since NaMo TV was sponsored by the BJP, all recorded programmes displayed on the platform should be pre-certified.
The notices were served following complaints received by the Nanded district administration of poll campaigning-related posts being circulated on these WhatsApp groups ahead the next week's state assembly elections, he said.
Intermediary platforms would take down content that violates the code of conduct in 'real time', once they receive a legal notice from the EC officers tasked with looking at content violations, reports Neha Alawadhi.
The poll panel has asked state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra to respond to the notices by 3 pm on Thursday and 7 pm on Friday, respectively.
The channel was mired in controversy ever since it went on air.
State Election Commission has found nine articles in local newspapers as "paid news" during Chhattisgarh assembly polls and directed that expenses incurred in publishing them be added to poll expenditure of parties and candidates concerned.
'I gave enough evidence and proof to punish corrupt officials.' 'But my own government has not filed any FIR against such officials.'
It is fine as long as there is no reference to the candidate or constituency going to poll in that particular phase.
As of now, political advertisements are barred in electronic media, including TV, radio and social media platforms.
The Election Commission has done its homework pretty well on political hashtags, observes ad guru Sandeep Goyal.
The fate of 720 candidates will be decided by 2.28 crore voters
As the stage is set for the fifth and final round of voting for 57 seats in the Bihar assembly poll to decide the fate of political biggies, people woke up on Wednesday morning to find a prominent newspaper advertisement featuring a woman loving hugging a young bovine, and attacking Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his silence over the 'beef' statements made by his allies.
In the video, the former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo is seen holding a glass and drinking from it, while reportedly watching TV.
The government believes firms which are subject to China's laws could be forced to hand over information to Beijing's security services.
EC in its fresh advisory said despite the direction certain advertisements of "offending nature" have been brought to its notice.
Delhi's Election Commission has detected instances of "paid news" relating to five candidates in the run-up to assembly election and added expenditure in this regard in their poll expenses.
There was no law or autonomous body governing digital content in India so far. Now, OTT and other platforms, including digital news websites, are expected to fall within a governmental framework of rules and regulations.
'If Indians are to be truly protected, Parliament must review and address these dangerous provisions before they become law.'
The government claims the existing safeguards under the law are adequate, lawful, towards a legitimate purpose and provide for a "proportionate interference" in citizens' right to privacy, reports Nitin Sethi.
Like China, India needs to encourage 'hacker clubs' in view of the challenges of virtual terrorism, says Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd)
Incidents like these are a wake-up call, says School Education Secretary Anil Swarup. 'Today, if a particular problem has been found, technology allows solutions to address it,' he says, suggesting alternatives such as printing and distribution of encrypted question papers on the day of the exam. Swarup wants electronic tracking to keep tab on who has access to and can, therefore, leak papers.
In an interview with Rediff.com Puducherry CM spoke about his plans for the state, Rahul Gandhi and his daily friction with the lieutenant governor.
Mohammad Sajjad salutes the memory of Mushirul Hasan -- historian, thinker, academic, institution builder, -- who passed into the ages this week.
Transcript of the political resolution adopted by the Bharatiya Janata Party in its national executive meeting in Panaji, Goa on Sunday.
