GUWAHATI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued new guidelines to political parties for the responsible and ethical use of social media during election campaigning, citing violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and other legal provisions.
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In its latest directive, the ECI warned political parties against the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to create deepfakes, which can distort information or propagate misinformation. The Commission emphasised the importance of following existing legal frameworks, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, the Indian Penal Code, the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and 1951, and the Model Code of Conduct.
The ECI has instructed political parties to refrain from publishing and circulating deep fake audios/videos, disseminating false or misleading information, posting derogatory content toward women, using children in campaigns, and depicting violence or harm to animals.
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The Commission has directed parties to promptly remove any such content within three hours of notification and take disciplinary action against the responsible party members. Additionally, parties are required to report unlawful information and fake user accounts to respective platforms and escalate persistent issues to the Grievance Appellate Committee under Rule 3A of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.