Anti-pollution measures similar to GRAP needed to combat social media pollution: CEC Rajiv Kumar

New Delhi [India], January 24 : Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Friday highlighted the need for a clean social media space and said that the entire social media space is polluted. He added that if we have environmental pollution outside, equally serious social media pollution we have inside and that needs anti-pollution measures.
"EMBs express shared concern over false narratives and misinformation on social media and resolve to form a working group to tackle it collectively. EMBs need to work collectively to tackle emerging challenges from AI, social media & Cybersecurity. A Working Group of EMBs has been constituted at the international conference hosted by ECI," he said while addressing a two-day international conference 'Global Election Year 2024: Reiteration of Democratic Spaces; Takeaway for EMBs' in New Delhi.
He mentioned that the "Delhi Declaration 2025" reflects the collective commitment of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) to uphold the principles of free, fair, and inclusive elections adopted. It symbolizes EMBs' shared commitment to fostering innovation, inclusivity, and integrity in elections. Let it remind us that elections are not static, as democracy is also not; these evolve with the people and especially the voters that they serve.
"Big-tech entities should ensure social media algorithms seek to clarify and inform rather than distort and misinform. Social media algorithms are designed in a way that repeatedly presents content aligned with existing views, reinforcing a perspective without exposing the person to the other side of the argument. Algorithms can certainly prevent that, especially in case of detectable fakes," he said.
He further added that tt is not enough to leave it to fact-checkers to detect it. It is like allowing easily detectable fakes to pass through and then leaving it to organizations at the receiving end, like the EMBs, to engage fact-checkers and rescue themselves and the electoral process. Business interest appears to be at work here. It is like first spreading disease and then selling medicines. The casualty is a fair election process and purity of democracy, he said.
"Social media companies need to introspect before it is too late. Let the social media platforms, which have been instrumental in providing critical space for free expression, especially to voices not heard, not be clouded by the shadows of fake, unverified and misleading narratives, disruptive by design. It is in their interest that fake clutter is detected and blocked before it is too late. It is only by sustaining democracy that freedom of speech is guaranteed. Do not help forces disrupting democracies and thereby freedom of speech which is a basic tenet of intermediaries as well. EMBs must devise and adopt a framework to manage these challenges," he added.
He highlighted that social media and digital platforms have huge positives by democratizing access to information and providing a platform for free expression, the very core of democracy. However, have also become tools for destroying that very core, the CEC said.