Dimapur, March 19 (EMN): Mon district administration has cautioned the electorate from misusing bulk messages including SMS during the elections. The IPR issued updates on Tuesday informing about a notification from the Mon district administration issued on March 16.
The notification ordered “prohibition of misuse” of bulk SMS / voice messages in political campaigning.
The Election Commission of India has taken cognizance that political parties and candidates often use bulk SMS and recorded voice messages in their election campaigns, the updates stated. Likewise, their supporters and workers and other organizations supporting them also ‘resort to the said method of carrying out election campaigns on their behalf.’
“Apart from use of normal SMS gateway through mobile, internet is also linked with the mobile gateways to sent SMSs and recorded messages. This feature may also be sometimes misused for sending malicious and vilifying materials in political campaigning and thereby violating electoral and criminal laws and Model Code of Conduct relating to elections,” the updates stated.
The administration stated that the commission has now decided that it was necessary to monitor the content of such bulk SMS to the electors during elections process so that objectionable content are not transmitted through this medium.
‘As per law, the said medium of communication-through SMSs is also part of ‘electronic media’ by definition. The commission has decided that the directions in the said order shall hereinafter apply mutatis mutandis to the use of bulk SMSs/voice messages over phone for political campaigning
during elections.’
