Lok Sabha Elections 2024: X restrains political posts at EC's behest
These posts have been withheld for violating the poll code which came into effect when the Lok Sabha election schedule was announced
Microblogging platform X said that it had to restrain certain posts from India at the behest of the Election Commission. These posts comprised political content from officials, political parties and candidates.
The posts have been restrained for allegedly violating the poll code which came into effect when the Lok Sabha election schedule was announced. The platform has been asked to withhold these posts till the poll period.
X owner Elon Musk spoke up about the issue, stating that he disagrees with the orders of the election commission on the grounds of "freedom of speech."
“We have notified the affected users and in the interest of transparency.
"We call on the Election Commission to publish all of its takedown orders going forward," said the company.
The EC reported four social media posts each by YSR Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary.
"As per commitments made under "Voluntary Code of Ethics", participant platforms are to take expeditious action on valid legal requests submitted by Election Commission of India and also make adequate arrangements to safeguard against misuse of their platforms. Failure to comply would amount to violation of "Voluntary Code of Ethics", to which X (Twitter) is a signatory. X may comply and take necessary action urgently," read EC's order.
The Lok Sabha elections will commence on Friday, April 19 and the results will be announced on June 4.
