Google to Help Election Commission in 2019 Elections | Latest Current Affairs Free PDF -

UPSC PERSPECTIVE
•MAINS GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 2
• Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.

UPSC PRELIMS 2017
Consider the following statements:
1. The Election Commission of India is a five-member body.
2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs decides the election schedule
for the conduct of both general elections and bye-elections.
3. Election commission resolves the disputes relating to
splits/mergers of recognised political parties.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 3 only

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat recently said that a Google representative met a committee that had been set up to explore possible modifications in Section 126 (election silence) and other provisions of the
Representation of the People Act, 1951 in view of the expansion and diversity of media platforms.

BASICS
The Election Commission (EC) has set up a 14-member committee to suggest changes to Section 126 of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, which prohibits poll campaign in the last 48 hours leading to voting, in the wake of media expansion.

The committee, chaired by Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha
At the meeting, the representative told the Commission that the company would keep track of political advertisements and ensure that they are pre-certified by the EC’s Media Certification and Monitoring Committees.

This would entail Google asking prospective clients, whenever an order is placed, whether they have been pre-certified. The Commission is the nodal body for pre-certification of advertisements of a political nature, released by either an individual or an organisation.

NOTES
Google has also assured the committee that it
would set up a mechanism for sharing information
on the cost of the political advertisements.
This would be of use to Returning Officers when it
comes to calculating the election expenditure of
individual candidates.

NOTES
“As soon as someone is declared a candidate for any
election, all the money spent by the person for
campaigning gets added as election expenditure. The
Commission also asks the candidates to declare their
official social media accounts,” an Election Commission
official said.

FACEBOOK
The EC’s committee had earlier held meetings with Facebook,
which has also agreed to develop tools for removing any content
pertaining to election matters during the 48-hour period when
the ‘prohibition protocol’ is in place. It is working on ways to
check fake news and share details of expenditure on poll-related
advertisement

During the Karnataka Assembly polls, Facebook tied up with the
Indian fact-checking agency, Boom Live, which confirmed over 50
cases of “fake news.” Twitter representatives have also met the
EC’s committ

• The first statement is incorrect. It consists of a Chief Election Commissioner and such
number of Election Commissioners as the President may deem it necessary subject to the
law made by Parliament in this regard. So, it is a multi-member commission. It currently
consists of Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
• Election Commission decides election schedule for the conduct of both general elections
and bye-elections. Article 324 vests in the Commission the powers of superintendence,
direction and control of the elections to both Houses of Parliament and State Legislature.
• The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 empowers the EC to
recognise political parties and allot symbols. Under Paragraph 15 of the Order, it can decide
disputes among rival groups or sections of a recognized political party staking claim to its
name and symbol. Under Paragraph 15, the EC is the only authority to decide issues on a
dispute or a merger.