The group said the threat posed by digital platforms to the integrity of the upcoming elections has assumed “alarming proportions”.
A group of rights organisations and citizens — including Internet Freedom Foundation, Common Cause and former chief election commissioners N Gopalaswami and SY Quraishi — have “made an urgent appeal” to the Election Commission to rein in digital platforms to ensure integrity of the general elections.
The group, which also includes Free Software Movement of India, Association for Democratic Reforms, and Constitutional Conduct, which is an entity of former civil servants, on Friday said they met EC officials previously and was assured careful consideration of its recommendations, but there has been little progress except for the adoption of a ‘virtually ineffectual’ voluntary code of ethics mediated by the Internet & Mobile Association of India.
The group said the threat posed by digital platforms to the integrity of the upcoming elections has assumed “alarming proportions”.
Their suggestions include closely monitoring the online spending of political parties for election campaigns and not just spending by candidates, and making it mandatory for political parties to disclose details of all official party/individual handles on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Sharechat and TikTok.
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