There is election atmosphere in many states of India. As much as the election activity is intense on the ground, the election temperature is equally high on social media also. The Election Commission of India has adopted a strict stance to curb illegal content on social media. The Election Commission (ECI) has reiterated that all stakeholders will ensure responsible and ethical use of social media and digital platforms in compliance with the existing legal provisions including the Information Technology Act, 2000 IT Rules, 2021 and Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The Commission further directed that any misleading or unlawful AI-generated or manipulated content will be taken action within 3 hours of its appearance on social media platforms. Also, political parties, candidates and campaign representatives must ensure that any artificially generated or AI-altered content used for election campaigning clearly states that it is made from AI. Also, its source should also be disclosed, so that transparency and voter confidence is maintained.
In the ongoing elections to the Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and West Bengal, content being circulated on social media such as posts violating the MCC, disrupting or having the potential to disrupt law and order, posts spreading falsehoods against the voting process or machinery are being monitored and action is being taken by the respective State IT Nodal Officers notified under the IT Act.
According to the order, since the announcement of elections on March 15, 2026, more than 11 thousand such social media posts/URLs related to the ongoing elections have been identified and action taken, including removal of content, FIR, clarification and rebuttal.
The Commission also reiterated the provisions of Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which prohibits the display of any election material in polling areas during the 48-hour silence period before the end of polling. All media platforms including television, radio, print and social media are required to strictly follow these provisions.
Additionally, citizens/political parties/candidates can report MCC violations using the C-Vigil module on ECINET. From March 15 to April 19, 3,23,099 complaints have been filed using the C-Vigil app in these elections. Of these, 310393 complaints i.e. 96.01 percent were resolved within the stipulated time period of 100 minutes.
