News
Election Commission flags political content tripwires on social media platforms
View(s):By Kevin De Alwis
The Election Commission is asking Sri Lankans to be mindful of information on social media and to try to verify the truth of what is being posted.
The EC is monitoring social media platforms for possible violations of the law related to misinformation, hate speech, and unethical social media activities.
So far, the EC has received more than 100 complaints on misinformation or hate speech, 50 of which were reported directly to relevant organisations. Facebook is topping the charts because it reports the most complaints.
The EC said arrangements have been made with all the frontline social media companies, such as Meta and YouTube. These organisations support the EC’s efforts to maintain stability on social media during the elections. The main objective is to control the spread of this misinformation or hate speech and to remove such content.
The EC spokesperson said one challenge is the lengthy process to remove unnecessary content from a platform.
The EC said it is extremely difficult to report each complaint directly to the organisations. The EC must first determine whether there are violations.
This warning from the EC to the people to be aware of the social media ecosystem comes in the wake of parties and candidates turning their attention towards social media.
Darshatha Gamage is a specialist in elections and information integrity at Hashtag Generation, one of five organisations involved in monitoring campaign finance. He said people need to be mindful about the content on social media platforms.
Mr. Gamage said almost all prominent parties and candidates are now using social media such as Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, as well as Google ads, more often to deliver their messages to audiences. Between eight and 10 strong candidates are using social media as a core strategy in campaigns.
“It seems a lot of popular pages on different platforms are used to run these exclusive election campaigns, and it is also reported that some social media groups and pages have been sold for candidates to run their respective campaigns. The cost of the content on these social media platforms can be not organic content. A financial influence can be behind it,’’ Mr. Gamage said.
“There are a lot of these kinds of incidents where some edited videos give wrong or misinterpreted information, but most of the time, there is an issue to identify the sources of such content.”
Asked about the challenges, he said lack of transparency in most transactions is a major stumbling block. “It is extremely difficult to track these activities because of the variety of strategies and platforms they are using as well as specific campaigns they design.’’
According to a gazette notification dated August 16, each candidate is allowed to spend a maximum of Rs 109 per voter, totalling Rs 1.86 billion (about US$5 million) per candidate. The expenditure limit per candidate is 60%, while political party secretaries are allowed 40% for their candidate’s election campaigns. Candidates dedicate substantial portions of budgets to digital marketing agencies specialising in crafting and managing social media campaigns.
Research revealed that these social media campaigns can cost from a few thousand rupees to up to millions, from simple email marketing campaigns to full-scale digital marketing campaigns. These might include campaign managers who design, create strategies, optimise different types of platforms, and create content.
| Parties, EC agree on regulations The silence period is when political campaigning or media coverage is prohibited—usually two days before an election. While print and electronic media can be controlled during that period, fears are arising regarding how social media will be controlled. The Election Commission said that for this month’s poll, it is adhering to a formula similar to that of the 2019 presidential election. This has been discussed with all parties, and an agreement was reached to maintain the integrity of the election during the silent period by complying with regulations on all social media platforms. | |
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