With the Election Commission of India (ECI) outlining stringent guidelines for social media usage during the Lok Sabha elections, political parties and candidates will not be able to post unverified advertisements, photographs of defence personnel, hate speeches, and fake news on their accounts. These guidelines have also led to confusion among users of social media and messaging platforms such as WhatsApp. In an interview on Monday, Sanjiv Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Karnataka, clarified the doubts. Excerpts:
The ECI guidelines have created confusion among people regarding the use of social media. Does this mean political parties and candidates cannot use social media for campaigning?
If they use social media for campaign, candidates and political parties are required to include it in their campaign expenditure, including the money spent on social media advertising.