On EC orders, X takes down posts of parties & leaders, but disagrees

In an article posted by its Global Government Affairs team, X said: “The Election Commission of India has issued takedown orders requiring X to act on posts containing political speech shared from elected politicians, political parties and candidates for office. In compliance with the orders, we have withheld these posts for the remainder of the election period; however, we disagree with these actions and maintain that freedom of expression should extend to these posts and political speech in general.”

It said the users affected had been notified and in the interest of transparency, it was publishing the takedown orders. “We call on the Election Commission to publish all of its takedown orders going forward.”

An EC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

In one takedown request on April 2, the EC asked for one post each by YSRCP and Naidu to be removed for violation of the Model Code of Conduct provision against criticism of private life of candidates or leaders and criticism based on unverified allegations.

In separate requests on April 2 and April 3, the EC asked that posts by the AAP and Choudhary respectively be taken down for violating the same MCC provision and the EC’s March 1 advisory to parties to maintain decorum during the campaign.

An email by an EC official to X on April 4 cited the four posts. “These were reported by dedicated Nodal Officer at ECI level through legal reporting portal of X after thorough assessment… As per commitments made under ‘Voluntary Code of Ethics’, participant platforms are to take expeditious action on valid legal requests submitted by Election Commission of India and also make adequate arrangement to safeguard against misuse of their platforms,” the EC wrote.

Among the posts removed was one by AAP, quoting a media report on the Enforcement Directorate arresting the director of Aurobindo Pharma, who bought electoral bonds days later, with the words “Bond Chor: Narendra Modi”. In his removed post, Choudhary had alleged that Lalu Prasad Yadav was an expert in “selling tickets” and that he had even made his daughter donate a kidney and then gave her a party ticket. Naidu’s removed post alleged that the ruling party of Andhra Pradesh, YSRCP, had turned the state into a drug capital.

Social media platforms and the Internet and Mobile Association of India had come up with a voluntary code of ethics on March 20, 2019, when the Lok Sabha elections were underway.