Use algorithm power to proactively red flag fake news: CEC Rajiv Kumar
Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that such a proactive approach to counter fake news will facilitate credible electoral outcomes.
Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday said that social media platforms should use their algorithm power to proactively “red flag fake news”.
Inaugurating a two-day international conference on the theme ‘Role, Framework and Capacity of Election Management Bodies (EMBs)’, the poll body chief added that “free, fair, inclusive, accessible and inducement free elections are a cornerstone of democratic polity. “These threshold concepts embody the understanding that sovereignty belongs to and flows from the people of a country,” he said.
He added that social media platforms do self-proclaim that they have content display policies but they also have the “algorithm power” in play. “More early or deeper red flagging of fake news based on known modus operandi and genres, is not an unfair expectation from the EMBs,” he underscored. Kumar added that such a proactive approach to counter fake news will facilitate credible electoral outcomes that will help preserve the ‘freedoms’, which the social media platforms require to thrive.
Also read: Twitter verification process to be revamped? This is Elon Musk’s reply
So far, social media platforms are governed by a voluntary code of ethics that they have signed with the Election Commission. There is no overarching law that applies to tackling fake news in the country, with amendments being considered under the Digital India Act and guidelines to tackle misinformation under the intermediary guidelines.
The CEC added that inclusivity also means adjusting inequalities especially for women, persons with disabilities, senior citizens, young voters and marginalised populations.
The Commission has recently allowed voters who are over the age of 17, and slated to turn 18 in the given year, to apply in advance for voter id cards. “In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 28 of the Representation of People Act, 1950 (43 of 1950), the central government, after consulting the Election Commission of India, hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, namely,” the Commission said in a gazette notification. “These rules may be called the Registration of Electors (Second Amendment) Rules, 2022.”
Also read: 'Best trolls ever': Elon Musk lauds pranksters pretending to be laid-off Twitter employees
In the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, in Form 5, after paragraph 4, the following paragraph shall be inserted — an eligible Citizen, who is going to attain the age of eighteen years on any of the subsequent qualifying dates in the year ……., that is to say, the 1st April, ……., the 1st July, ……., or the 1st October, ……, may also file his or her claim for inclusion of his or her name in the roll, in Form-6, in advance, starting from the date of notice, and the same shall be considered and decided in the respective quarter of the year with reference to the respective qualifying date.”
“Democracy has always been a part of Indian ethos, a way of life. Diverse opinions, dialogue, discussions, accommodation and non-aggression have been intrinsic part of our culture. People’s faith in the results of elections is the most fundamental precept of a healthy democracy,” Kumar said, according to a statement issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
