Mumbai: The media cell of the Mumbai Suburban district collector office is closely monitoring political advertisements, social media platforms, and any objectionable content in the run up to the elections on April 29 in Mumbai.
Every candidate will have to pre-certify the advertisements and social media accounts by the poll panel. The Election Commission (EC) has formed a media certification and monitoring committee (MCMCs) for certification and clarification of paid news. This agency is supervising at the district and state levels. All the content of about a dozen leading news channels is being monitored on 12 screens 24/7.
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The Public Relations Officer, Dr Milind Awatade who handles the media cell at Mumbai Suburban District Collector office, said, “We closely monitor all news channels for any objectionable content. If we find something offensive, we record it and issue a notice to that particular news channel. We are also recording the paid news advertisement and calculate the expense of that advertisement under the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) rate.”
The staff here works in two shifts to monitor these news channels round the clock. An important development in these elections is that all the candidates have been asked to submit the details of their social media accounts in the affidavits they have submitted along with their nomination papers. They have to also include the expenditure of the advertisements on their social media handles. All candidate have been asked to comply with all the provisions of model code of conduct.
