“The thing about social media is that it is anonymous, so it can be much more vitriolic and extreme than normal media and yet it is there for everyone to see. It is kind of like electronic graffiti. The political process is accelerated and intense in a way that I don’t believe it ever really has been before”

-Tony Abbott

INTRODUCTION

How people associate with each other and the mode in which information is pooled and disseminated has changed due to the advent of social media. Traditional media such as print, radio and television are different from the social media in two significant ways (i) the amount of content that can be generated by news/opinion makers is much lower than the content generated by the users themselves and (ii) its “viral” ability for the probable multiplying spread of information by word of mouth and interspersing of the numerous social media platforms, dipping the control over the spread of such information. These features symbolise the paradigm move from Web 1.0 technologies that sanctioned simple information sharing through basic two-way transactions to Web 2.0 – where everyone is/can be a consumer as well as the creator of content. Social media is redefining how people connect, communicate and influence one another.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND INDIAN POLITICS

The emergence of social media gives voices to voiceless and fractured common people which is negligible in the orthodox and typecast media. Major growth of social media is due to the youth as they dedicate most of their time to social media, and everyone including Political parties is very well aware of the fact and try to influence the young generation. In the 2019 election, our country had 130 million first time voters, out of which more than 15 million voters between 18 to 19 years of age. The Political parties with the help of social media we able to get information regarding voters likes and dislikes; and further manipulate them, especially the Swing Voters, whose views can be changed by manipulating information. The political parties and politicians started using Social Media for communication and campaigning purposes to influence voters, which in turn saved their time, money and resources, giving them a larger audience for interaction. Political campaigns are not just confined to buttons and banners for politicians to reach their voters. The new political showground is full of infomercials, advertisements, blog posts, and lakhs of tweets, Instagram posts, Facebook posts etc. Politicians are now able to continuously demonstrate their message through endless commercials and gauge their communication by viewing direct responses to their actions on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram. Social media has so many influences upon politics that some of the users prefer to use growth services like Instagram growth service or Facebook growth services to enhance the follower count on their profile. Soon the platform connecting professionals will also be used by the parties to propagate themselves. Social media creates an innovative political conversation. Power of political messaging is taken away from the mass media model and firmly placed into the peer-to-peer, public dialogue. The institution of social media has allowed unparalleled empowerment and arrangement of the ‘aam aadmi’ for expressing political opinions. The positive development of social media development has been that the youth is speaking about political issues. Formerly the political discussions were constrained only to those who read newspapers, viewed news channels or contributed in discussions at nukkad of a village or clubs. But now, social interaction has made the youth of India to discuss political issues. They employ time to analyse and discuss politics. They now have their views on the happenings of political events and also influence the administrative decision making. Social media evolution in the Indian political space is factual, perceptible and fast-tracking. Though it may not bring in massive changes instantaneously, still it plays a vital role in spreading political awareness in a developing country like India.

Few examples of successful Social Media campaigns by the Political parties in times of elections are:

1.      Aam Aadmi Party in 2013 and 2020 assembly election.

2.      Bhartiya Janta Party and Indian National Congress in 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections

3.  Barack Obama, the first politician to successfully used social media during his two continuous election campaigns of 2008 and 2012.

4.      Donald Trump, 2016 presidential campaign along with the most recent 2020 campaign

Apart from the positive impact of Social Media in Indian politics especially in the last decade, one can also see a strong negative impact in usage not only from the people within the country but also outside the country. In the 21st century, the first election in the world where Social Media tools were used to interfere in the election process by outsiders and discussed globally was the 2016 American Presidential election, which also shook America’s political landscape. Fake Social Media accounts were created and used as United States citizens to influence the election by various posts and images. Even, Facebook admits that Russian Groups Company bought $ 100,000 worth of ads, to spread disinformation and propaganda in a society where social and political divide exists and these advertisements saw by 10 million American people. In this situation, it will be very keenly observed by the experts how much influence do the Social Media platforms have on voter’s opinions, ideas, and analysis in the future Indian elections.

USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN ELECTION CAMPAIGNING AND ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA’S (ECI) SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

Gist of Instructions

·       Instructions of the Commission concerning use of Social Media in Election Campaigning

The Commission has issued detailed guidelines concerning social media on 25th October 2013, which instructs candidates to furnish details of their social media accounts at the time of filing nominations. The Commission has also brought the social media sites under the purview of pre-certification as mentioned in Commission’s order No.509/75/2004/JS-1/4572 dated 15.04.2004. The Commission has instructed that candidates and political parties shall include all expenditure on campaigning, including expenditure on advertisements on social media into their election expenditure account.

The commission has further clarified that any political content in the form of messages/comments/photos/videos posted/uploaded on the blogs/self-accounts on websites/ social media will not be considered as political advertisements and would not require pre-certification. However, advertisements published in e-newspaper shall require pre-certification by the concerned Authority.

·         Appointment of social media expert

A special social media expert has been added in Media certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) to monitor social media and report violations.

·           Use of Social Media

The Commission decided to enhance its interaction and involvement with all the stakeholders in the electoral processes by inducting the use of social media at the State as well as the District level. Instruction in this regards was issued to Chief Electoral Officers of all States/UTs on 6th September 2016. All Chief Electoral Officers and the District Electoral Officers now have their official accounts on various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. for establishing a more interactive system. The CEOs have set up Social Media Cells to professionally handle these Social Media accounts and disseminate all the necessary information. Complaints received on these platforms are promptly responded to. At the ECI level, a Social Media Cell is also set up to disseminate all election-related information to various stakeholders and to monitor the performance of the State/ UTs and District and to guide and train them to maximise the use of Social Media, making it more interactive and interesting for the general public. The Social Media Cell also closely monitors the web for election-related news and developments and regularly reports to the Commission.

·         Voluntary Code of Ethics by social media platforms for 2019 General Election.

Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in consultation with Election Commission has developed a set of ‘Voluntary Code of Ethics’ for the General Elections to Lok Sabha 2019 and Legislative Assemblies & Bye- elections scheduled along with the Lok Sabha election. The Code has been developed to ensure free, fair & ethical use of social media platforms and to maintain the integrity of the electoral process. The social media platforms have assured the Commission they will facilitate access to information regarding electoral matters and voluntarily undertake awareness campaigns on electoral laws and other election-related instructions. There will be a high priority dedicated reporting mechanism for these elections to interface and exchange feedback for expeditious action. Platforms have developed a notification mechanism for ECI to notify violations of Section 126 of R.P. Act, 1951 and other applicable electoral laws. Action will be taken by the platforms within three hours for reported violations of Section 126 and other cases will also be acted upon expeditiously.

Platforms have committed to facilitate transparency in paid political advertisements and will ensure all political advertisements are pre-certified by MCMC. IAMAI will overall coordinate with the social media and ECI during the election.

·         Appointment of Social Media Nodal Officers

The Commission has appointed Social Media Nodal Officers for escalation of violation of MCC or any other Commission’s instructions/provisions of the law and court’s orders in the matters related to election on Social Media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp etc., during elections.

CONCLUSION

Both ECI and Social Media platforms are taking actions in restricting fake news, hate discourses and disinformation. But, one should remember that it is easier said than done, mainly because of the steep volume of information that is generated and disseminated, and bad past performances of Social Media platforms. There are many individuals and groups, who regularly change their names to build more followers and spread fake news, hatred etc. They even try to abuse the social and political division of society. The non-existence of a regulating law of Social Media along with non-application of Section 126 and other Sections of the Representation of the Peoples Act 1951 further results in abuse and misuse of social media. The users of Social Media are increasing with increasing internet penetration and Smartphone. However, it is a big challenge to differentiate between fake and real news. If this abuse and misuse are left unchecked then it can undermine democratic processes in our country which is the largest in the world in terms of the electorate. Therefore it is recommended to frame and execute stricter laws concerning the usage of Social Media, especially by political parties of the country.

Bibliography

·         Tony Abbott, Former Prime Minister of Australia, The Conversation, March 28, 2014 https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-in-conversation-with-tony-abbott-24895 (last visited on 14.07.2020)

·         HussainMdBajlun Noor.2018, the Role and Importance of Media in Indian Politics. Int J Recent Sci Res. 9(1), pp. 23451-23454. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijrsr.2018.0901.1472

·         Sadashivam, T. (2019). Role of Social Media in Indian General Election 2019.

·         Election Commission of India, www.eci.gov.in (last visited on 14.07.2020)

·         Election Commission of India, Compendium of Instructions on Media Related Matters, January 2020, Document 14 – Edition 3

·         Surjit Kaur and Manpreet Kaur, Impact of Social Media in Politics, Gian Jyoti E-Journal, Volume 3, Issue 4 (Oct-Dec 2013)