Jaipur: The Election Department in Rajasthan has initiated a 360-degree effort to monitor fake news and hate speech during the Lok Sabha General Election in the state. To ensure the conduct of a fair and transparent election process several committees have been constituted by engaging the Public Relations and Police department officials.
Chief Electoral Officer Shri Praveen Gupta said that the election department has started keeping a close watch on the information or news reports being spread on social media regarding the election process, EVM, law and order, voter lists etc. 'A Quick Response Management Plan has been set in to make sure that all such information was factual. For this, 33 committees have been formed district at the level and the state level,' said Gupta.
Besides this, a three-member committee has been set up in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer to keep an eye on the information being broadcast and published on social media, news channels, newspapers, FM and other sources related to elections at the state level.
This committee scrutinizes the suspicious info with the help of the Social Media and Fact Check team of the PR officers and initiates a fact-checking exercise through the concerned department of the district administration. 'After identifying the information to be wrong or misleading, as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the case will be sent to the Election Commission of India for its removal or other such further action,' said Gupta.
The exercise of curbing fake news, wrong or misleading information on social media, is being supported by the police department as well. About 80 police officers have been deputed across the state for monitoring of information and checking of facts at the local level.
Inspector General of Police Sharat Kaviraj has been nominated as the State Nodal Officer for this. These officers are authorized to take action in the cases of fake news as per the Indian Penal Code and other relevant rules and directions.
