Page 157 - Leap of Faith Vol - 2

Chapter 4hapter 6
The Grandest Festival of Democracy C

Financial Ins tu ons assured the Commission of prompt of tech pla orms. Prior to the elec ons, the 16 Lok
24x7 expenditure monitoring and surveillance ac on. Sabha's Department-related Standing Commi ee on
Informa on of Technology took a tough stand on social
Voluntary Code for Social Media
media intermediaries regarding fake news, hate posts,
One of the imponderables in 21 century elec ons is the etc., though it could not finish preparing the report.
behaviour of social media. Democra c ins tu ons across
The Elec on Commission's outlook on the ma er was
the world have grown vigilant about the role and conduct
one of developing consensus. In a mee ng with the
representa ves of social media intermediaries and
Internet and Mobile Associa on of India (IAMAI) on
March 19, 2019 the Commission pitched for self-
regula on on the lines of the Model Code of Conduct. As
a result of these delibera ons, the IAMAI came out with a
Voluntary Code of Ethics for the General Elec ons, 2019.

The Associa on agreed to
a) entertain poli cal adver sements in accordance with
obliga on under law and pre-cer fica on issued by
ECI and/or Media Cer fica on and Monitoring
Commi ee (MCMC),
b) facilitate transparency in paid poli cal adver sements
by using pre-exis ng labels or disclosure technology
and
c) provide an update of measures taken to revent abuse p
of respec ve pla orms on receiving of a valid request
from the Commission.

The Seventeenth General Elec ons were themed – Desh
Ka Mahatyohar or the grand fes val of democracy.
Doordarshan Na onal Channel ran a talk show, featuring
senior officers of the Elec on Commission, by the same
tle. At the me of announcing the elec ons, the total
electorate published in the E-rolls in reference to January
1, 2019 was approximately 912 million (91.2 cr) signifying
more than 834 million (8.4 cr) addi on to the electorate
size of 814.5 million (81.45 cr) in General Elec ons, 2014.

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