Ahead of state assembly elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, social media platforms Twitter and Koo have adopted specific measures in order to dispel misinformation and help users in finding credible information. While Twitter, in a press release, said that it has come up with a dedicated search prompt wherein one can find poll-related information (among other things), the homegrown micro-blogging platform has adopted a code of ethics that's centered on elections, as per a New Indian Express report. In the past, social media platforms have been widely criticised for the spread of election-related misinformation and its use by political parties to target users. Koo adopts code of ethics drawn up by IAMAI The code that's been adopted by Koo was created by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) ahead of the 2019 general elections and was presented to the Election Commission of India, the platform said. Here's a brief summary of what the code comprises — Notification mechanism for ECI to report violations to platforms: Platforms have to develop a notification mechanism for the ECI to legally notify them of potential violations of Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and other electoral laws. Action within 3 hours for violations of the 48-hour silent period: For reported violations of Section 126 of the RP Act – which prohibits political parties and candidates from campaigning in the two days before voting – platforms will acknowledge and/or process these legal orders within 3 hours (as per the Sinha…
