Key highlights of the meeting:
- The meeting was attended by the industry head Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and representatives from social media organizations such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Google, ShareChat, TikTok and BigoTV.
- The meeting discussed issues like –
- appointment of dedicated grievance channel for expeditious action by the organizations,
- pre- certification and transparency in expenditure of political advertisements,
- evolving a notification mechanism by social media platforms for acting upon the violations of Section 126 of Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 and
- preventing misuse of these platforms.
- Chief Election Commissioner reiterated that role of social media in helping spread information as well as curbing misinformation cannot be underestimated. Deterrents like some punitive action against users misusing the platform should be considered pro-actively.
- IAMAI and Social Media intermediaries willingly agreed to come up with a ‘Code of Ethics’ for the Industry laying down operational details.
