The Election Commission of India (EC) has asked to meet with Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, ShareChat and TikTok’s India heads to talk about taking down content which violates its guidelines during the upcoming elections, reports the Indian Express. It is interesting that the EC has now included WhatsApp, TikTok and Sharechat in this meeting. These companies were missing from the EC's announcement last week where it said that it was working with online platforms to regulate content, takedowns, ad verification and actions during the silence period. MediaNama had then pointed out that the EC should look at TikTok, which now has a large Indian audience, for social media profiles of candidates, political parties, and paid campaigns by supporters. In the EC's upcoming meeting with the platforms' India heads, the EC will address: The pre-certification process for political ads and the time limit for companies to act on complaints “Evolving a notification mechanism by the social media platforms so that ECI may notify the relevant platform of political violations of Section 126 of the RP Act, 1951.” The platforms will also discuss if users who pay to boost and promote a post qualify as political advertisers Grievance redressal channels Abuse prevention mechanisms Awareness programs during the silence period IAMAI: Legal provision necessary for content take down The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) told the Indian Express that it needed a legal order ‘that cites a legal provision’ to take down content as it will help the org to establish the legality…
