In view of the Assembly election Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) and cell is at work 24 X 7 across Bokaro constituency. The administration is monitoring TV channels, newspapers, local radio, local cable TV channels and various social media platforms for violations of the Model Code of Conduct.
"Any complaint of paid news or gratification to voters will be under the scanner of different agencies. Monitoring teams were also there to look into any allegations of ‘paid news’ and would monitor social media," said Mukesh Kumar District election officer-cum- deputy commissioner Bokaro.
Bokaro and Chandankiyari constituencies of the district are going for poll on 16 December.
“Workers have been deputed for monitoring work 24 × 7 in three shifts. Various mediums of mass media are constantly being monitored. So far there has been no news of paid news related to any candidates,” said Kumar.
Sharing or posting anything on social media which violates the Election Commission’s model code of conduct (MCC) could land people in trouble. It was often seen that many WhatsApp messages were sent for promotion in favour of a particular candidate. “Sending of such messages falls under the paid news category, which is a violation of MCC,” said Kumar and warned all WhatsApp group administrators to stop spreading such messages.
“If anyone is found sending such messages, group administrators may face action under Representation of the People’s Act,” he said, adding, the same applies to Facebook and other social media platforms.
“We will keep track of messages such as hate speech, paid news and rumor-mongering on social media platforms and take action accordingly,” he said. ECI has issued clear guidelines with regards to the use of social media by political parties and candidates, said Kumar.
"Under the guidelines, candidates are required to furnish details of his/her social media account at the time of filing nominations. All political advertisements on social media will also require pre- certification from MCMC," he added.
Anyone can report any violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during elections through ‘c-VIGIL’ mobile application which stands for “citizens’ vigil”. Kumar urged mass to use this application if anyone found any kind of MCC violation in their areas.
It is found that during publicity or on the day of election, and polling, the model code of conduct is violated. For that the C-Vigil App is a medium for the people, common people can easily get the evidence of any model code of conduct violation of any candidate may directly report to us along with photographs. His identity will be kept a secret, said DC.
We have constituted a C-Vigil cell for speedy execution of complaints received. C-Vigil app requires an Android smartphone with a camera, Internet connection and GPS.
For complaints, people have to take a photo or video of a maximum of two minutes of violation of the model code of conduct and send it to this app. In this, the identity of the complainant will be kept a secret, said district public relations official.
The complaint can be resolved in a maximum of 100 minutes. The location of the complaint can be identified with the help of GPS, added the official. The complainant will get a unique ID, so that he can know further action. After the complaint is filed, the information will go to the District Control Room. It will then be sent to the FST Team for investigation, he said.
Only the model code of conduct violations can be reported on this application, said the official.