Daily Current Affairs for UPSC
‘Voluntary Code of Ethics’ for Social Media Platforms
Syllabus- Governance [GS Paper-2]
Context
Recently, a social media platform agreed to takedown posts in order to follow the ‘Voluntary Code of Ethics’.
About
- It is a huge initiative by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) to make certain loose, truthful, and ethical use of social media systems at some stage in elections.
- It has been developed to make certain free, honest, and ethical usage of social media platforms to hold the integrity of the electoral manner.
- The code voluntarily agreed upon by the individuals comes into operation with immediate effect.
Emergence of the Code
- The code was developed in 2019, in response to the increasing use of social media by political parties.
- It includes provisions which include voluntarily undertaking data, education, and communication campaigns to construct recognition about electoral laws.
Key Provisions of the Code
- Social media platforms need to set up suitable guidelines and approaches to facilitate access to statistics on electoral subjects.
- These structures need to decide to facilitating transparency in paid political commercials, which includes making use of their pre-existing labels or disclosure technology for such advertisements.
- Platforms will, upon notification from the ECI, process any violations suggested under Section 126 of the RP Act, 1951, inside three hours as consistent with the Sinha Committee tips.
Impact and Implementation
- The ECI, in pursuance of the ‘Voluntary Code of Ethics’, has been directing numerous social media systems to take down content material (links, movies, posts, tweets) observed objectionable as according to various provisions of the Model Code of Conduct, Representation of People’s Act, the Indian Penal Code, and different electoral laws during elections.
Source: The Indian Express
UPSC Mains Practice Question
Q.Analyse the limitations faced by model code of conduct in the digital age of political advertisement. (250 words)
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