After poll campaigning ends, EC directs X to take down Karnataka BJP video targeting Muslims
The police had issued a notice to the social media platform two days before polling took place in 14 of the state’s 28 constituencies.
The Election Commission on Tuesday told social media platform X to take down a Bharatiya Janata Party campaign video on grounds that it violated the “extant legal framework”, The Indian Express reported.
The legal framework refers to the Information Technology Act and the Information Technology Rules, 2021, that govern online conduct in the country.
However, the poll regulator’s notice to X came after campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections in the state had ended, and mid-way through voting for the state’s 28 seats. Voting for 14 seats in Karnataka took place on April 26 while the remaining seats went to the polls on Tuesday.
ECI orders Twitter @X to take down the following BJP Karnataka’s communal hate post. https://t.co/FmqeuTPQc2 pic.twitter.com/OStDvoWFBw— Arvind Gunasekar (@arvindgunasekar) May 7, 2024
On Sunday, the Karnataka Police had issued notice to X, asking it to take down the video for violating the Model Code of Conduct, reported the Hindustan Times. The Model Code of Conduct is a set of rules issued by the Election Commission that all political parties, candidates and governments are mandated to follow in the run-up to an election.
The police notice to X, on Sunday, was issued at the behest of the state Election Commission via Karnataka’s chief electoral officer. The campaigning for the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the southern state concluded on Tuesday.
On May 4, the BJP’s...
