Kolkata, March 19 (IANS) The Election Commission has banned the display of political advertisements on cyberspace without pre-certification, an official said Wednesday.
This has been done to curb violations of the model code of conduct through use of internet and social media.
In a letter to the associate vice president, Internet and Mobile Association of India, and chief grievance officers of major social networking sites, the commission has issued directives regarding use of internet-based media by political parties and candidates.
"No political advertisement shall be accepted and displayed on internet and internet-based media without pre-certification.
"In addition, internet sites shall inform the commission regarding the expenditure incurred by the political parties/candidates on political advertisements when requested for," assistant chief electoral officer, West Bengal, Amitjyoti Bhattacharji told reporters here.
The panel also called for "active scrutiny" on the part of the internet-based media to ensure the content put up by them during the electoral process is not "unlawful" or "malicious" or "violative of the model code of conduct".
"In case of such content coming to the notice of the electoral machinery and the internet-based media, the same will be removed forthwith," he said.
Further, the amount spent on political advertisements online should be included in the campaign expenditure data. During filing of nominations, candidates would be required to submit details of their social network accounts, he said.
Regarding content (related to the elections) posted by individuals other than candidates and political parties, the commission is "considering the matter in consultation" with the ministry of communication and information technology.
The official process for the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal began Wednesday with the panel issuing the notification for four seats -- Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar -- in the northern part of the state where polling would be held April 17.
"So far, only one candidate has filed his nomination from Cooch Behar," he said.
The notification sets the ball rolling for the filing of nominations for the first phase of the general elections in the state. The last date for filing nominations for this stage is March 26. The scrutiny of nominations would be done March 27 while March 29 is the last day for withdrawal of candidature.
IND vs AFG: Who has the upper hand India or Afghanistan in T20I? See what the head-to-head statistics say
IND vs AFG Head to Head: Afghanistan is counted among those teams, which have the power to surprise the opposition team in any match. The Afghan team achieved this feat several times in the recently
Odisha Congress backs Manmohan Singh, seeks CBI probe into CM's role
Bhubaneswar, March 17 (IANS) The Odisha unit of the Congress on Tuesday expressed solidarity with former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who was summoned in the coal scam case, and demanded that
India’s Covid-19 cases cross 400, death toll at 7
इंडियन मेडिकल काउंसिल ऑफ मेडिकल रिसर्च ने सोमवार को कहा कि कोविद -19 या
Motorola Edge S launched with 6 cameras, will compete with Redmi 10X
Smartphone manufacturer Motorola has made a great comeback. In the year 2020, the company launched several smartphones, including 5G smartphones. Now the company has launched its latest smartphone
Chiranjeevi finds fault with brother's meeting with Modi
Hyderabad, March 22 (IANS) Union minister and Congress leader K. Chiranjeevi has found fault with his brother Pawan Kalyan for meeting BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.Chiranjeevi
BJP calls for Mamata's grilling in Saradha scam
Kolkata, Jan 31 (IANS) The BJP Saturday called for the interrogation of Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Saradha scam, a day after party general
KKR got a big setback, this strong player will not play the remaining matches of IPL 2021
Veteran fast bowler Pat Cummins of the Australian team has withdrawn from the remaining matches of IPL 2021, starting in September in the United Arab Emirates. In this way, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
BJP approaches poll panel against Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) The BJP Saturday asked the Election Commission to file a complaint against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his alleged comments at an election rally in Himachal
Officials summoned for violations on Shimla's restricted roads
Shimla, March 21 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Saturday directed the deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police to appear before it in person on April 20 in connection with
Budget will widen income, wealth inequalities: CPI-M
New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) The CPI-M Saturday denounced the union budget as pro-rich and said it will only widen "the already large income and wealth inequalities" in the country."This budget, while